| Dante Falconeri | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Dominic Zamprogna as Dante Falconeri | |||||||||||||||||||
| General Hospital | |||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Dominic Zamprogna | ||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2009-present | ||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | June 22, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Robert Guza Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Stud (by Tommy) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Aliases | Dominic Pirelli | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gender | Male | ||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Title | Detective | ||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Falconeri Loft, Apt. 4B Port Charles, New York |
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Dante Angelo Falconeri[3] is a fictional character on the popular daytime soap opera General Hospital. Dante is the son of the popular character Sonny Corinthos and his old flame Olivia Falconeri. He has been portrayed by contract player Dominic Zamprogna since June 22, 2009.
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Dante was born circa 1984[4], in Bensonhurst to a 16-year-old Olivia Falconeri. Olivia was in labor with Dante for 36 hours.[5] Olivia dated Sonny Corinthos in high school. After the relationship ended, Sonny began dating Olivia's cousin Connie Falconeri (now known as Kate Howard). After Sonny left Bensonhurst, Olivia learned she was pregnant. The only other person who knew Sonny was Dante's father was Connie. Olivia swore her to secrecy to protect Dante from Sonny's dangerous lifestyle. Dante, like his mother, is Catholic.
| “ | He's a smart, intelligent, loving kind of thug. They've written him to be witty and charming. It's just interesting to play a character like that when there's a lot of tough guys on the canvas. I think this is a new, fresh take on this ... he's funny, he's not scared of anything. He's putting himself in front of people that could pull out a gun and shoot him right there. He earns respect for having the balls to do that. He's gutsy. But at the same time, he's not your prototypical tough guy. | ” |
–Soapnet[6]
Since the announcement of the character in the summer of 2008, there was much speculation about who would portray Dante. First Tom Pelphrey was considered for the role. He had recently relocated to California, leading fans to believe he was joining the cast. Pelphrey later released a statement saying he wanted to seek work outside of daytime.[7] In October 2008, it was reported that David Lago had been cast as Dante. This was incorrect, as Lago had never actually signed a contract and the potential deal fell apart.[7] Lago instead returned to his former job as Raul Guittierez on The Young and the Restless. In late spring of 2009, it was announced that Canadian actor Dominic Zamprogna had been cast as the character of Dominic Pirelli. The fact that the character had the same name as the actor led to much speculation among fans. On July 8, 2009, Dominic was confirmed to be Dante Falconeri.
An adult Dante arrives in Port Charles on June 22, 2009. Trained as an undercover cop, Dante is operating under the alias of Dominic Pirelli, a hit man who works for mob boss Claudia Zacchara. Claudia is married to Sonny, the father he never knew about. When Claudia orders Dante and other employees to kill rival Jason Morgan, her brother Johnny Zacchara saves Jason's life, wounding or killing several of the shooters. Dante is able to flee into the nearby woods where he meets Morgan Corinthos, his half brother, though neither are aware that Sonny is Dante's father. When Morgan's mother Carly Corinthos Jacks lets Dante escape, he makes his way to Sonny's house to recover, where he meets Kristina Davis, his half sister. He later reveals himself to his mother, while keeping his undercover assignment secret from her.
Dante is able to convince Sonny to hire him, despite Claudia and Jason both raising concerns. Dante rents a room above Kelly's Diner from Mike Corbin, his grandfather.[8] On July 31, 2009, Dante, still known as Dominic, meets Lulu Spencer, and the two are instantly attracted to each other, despite interference from her brothers Lucky Spencer and Ethan Lovett. Dante understands their violent reaction to having a sister involved with a mobster, when he learns his mother is romantically involved with Johnny Zacchara.
Sonny sends Johnny and Dante to destroy a drug shipment that men loyal to imprisoned Anthony Zacchara are bringing into town. The police, including Lucky, catch the men, but Dante allows Johnny to escape. While in custody, Dante admits to police commissioner Mac Scorpio that he is working undercover, and Mac arranges for him to be released since there wasn't a valid search warrant.[9] Sonny and Carly begin to trust Dante after he protects Morgan from Kristina's abusive boyfriend, Kiefer Bauer, and he becomes Morgan and Michael Corinthos' bodyguard, despite doubts voiced by their stepfather Jax.[9]. Olivia learns about Dante's work and urges him to abandon his assignment, while Dante grows closer to Lulu, sharing a kiss on August 26, 2009. On 10-19-09 Dante saw the mysterious "CO77X" (Franco's Trademark)
While hanging out with Morgan at the General Hospital Carnival, a charity event for the Michael Corinthos Foundation, Dante saves Morgan's life when a drugged Edward Quartermaine drives his car into the crowded midway. Dante is injured, and when Dr. Patrick Drake recommends a kidney transplant, Olivia wrestles with whether to tell Sonny and Dante that they are father and son. Dante's condition stabilizes, but Patrick encourages Olivia to tell them the truth anyway. When his handler, Ronnie Domestico, visits him in the hospital, he leaves his badge behind. Dante is able to lie about it when Lulu sees it, and Jax, realizing that Dante is Olivia's son and an undercover cop, pockets it before Sonny can see it. Jax begins pushing Dante to bust Sonny, while Claudia also learns that Dante is Olivia and Sonny's offspring.
Claudia, who secretly ordered the hit-gone-wrong on Sonny that ended up putting Michael in a coma, begins pressuring Dante to sleep with her, believing that a child will protect her from Sonny should the truth come out. Dante reveals to Lulu that Sonny ordered a hit on his childhood father figure, and he turns Claudia's advances down, despite her threats to reveal that he is Olivia's son. Lulu is drugged after attending a photo shoot for Crimson and overhears Ronnie refer to Dante as a police officer. When Lulu refuses to go to a hospital, Dante takes her back to his apartment, where she passes out after kissing him. In the morning she reveals that she remembers nothing of the night before.
At Claudia's birthday party, Sonny reveals that he knows Claudia is responsible for Michael's accident, and fearing for her life Claudia takes a pregnant Carly hostage. Dante, Johnny and Lulu all head to the Zacchara mansion, where Lulu falls through the floor and gets trapped in the flooded basement as the water continues to rise. Johnny goes for help while Dante jumps into the water to try to keep Lulu from drowning. She is soon suffering from hypothermia and, in her shock, recalls what she overheard about Dante being a police officer. She asks him not to bust Sonny. But Dante says Sonny should be behind bars for all the crimes he committed, especially the one involving the murder of Dante's father figure and role model, Mr. Poletti. As they talk, Dante also reveals to Lulu that he is Olivia's son. Johnny arrives with the paramedics, who rescue the two.
After Claudia disappears, Dante encounters Johnny at the burned cabin where she had been killed. Dante says he owes Johnny and he will help find out what happened to Claudia. The next day Dante discovers evidence linking Sonny to the murder of Claudia when he recovers fragments of Sonny's burned clothing from the fireplace in Sonny's living room. Lab results determine the clothing has Claudia's blood on it. it's later revealed that Dante had a prior encounter with Franco in New York, and arrested him.
On November 17, Lulu asks Sonny, in his office, what he would do if a cop was trying to uncover evidence against him. Before he could answer, Dante walks in and Sonny, assuming Lulu is talking about Lucky, says that a cop never has and never will send him to prison. As Dante tries to escort Lulu out, Sonny asks him to stay for a second, which terrifies Lulu, because she thought she had given him up. Sonny tells Dante to take care of Lulu because he doesn't want to see her unhappy. Dante then asks if Sonny thinks she likes him, which Sonny responded, "She's waiting for you outside." When Dante exited Sonny's office, him and Lulu go to the docks where she explained to him that he didn't need to be the one to bust Sonny because he could lose his life over it. Dante then says that him and Sonny are on the opposite side of everything there is except for the fact that they both think the world of Lulu. Dante then surprises Lulu with a passionate kiss to prove how much she means to him. He left Lulu on the docks as she covered her mouth because she is realizing how much she cares for him.
Johnny learns Dante's identity as Olivia's son and an undercover cop after eavesdropping on a conversation that Lulu and Dante have on the docks on November 20, 2009. He angrily confronts Olivia about the secret, but eventually agrees not to tell Sonny.
Dante saves Sonny's life when they are ambushed on their way to broker peace with a Zacharra associate who has agreed to help the jailed Anthony eliminate Sonny. Jason guns down the shooters and Sonny tells Max, Milo, Jason and Dante to attend a Crimson-sponsored art show that night as a cover, since the cops will be investigating what happened. Before heading out Sonny shares a drink with Dante to decompress and they bond a little. Because Sonny suggested bringing a date, Dante knocks on Lulu's door and Lulu, already dressed and about to leave for the art show anyway, accompanies him to the event. Dante recognizes something familiar about the art by the mysterious recluse named Franco, who recreates crime scenes. But he cannot quite place what it is.
Lulu catches Dante listening to a recording of a conversation he had with Sonny, in which Sonny makes incriminating remarks about Claudia's murder. Dante admits to Lulu that he is conflicted about taking down Sonny, because he has come to like Sonny and his family. But after seeing Olivia cozying up to Sonny during their spontaneous chili cook-off in Kelly's kitchen, he turns the recording in to be used as evidence, saying he has to keep his mother safe. Later that night, Ronnie informs him that the evidence wasn't enough to get an arrest warrant on Sonny. Angry but relieved at the same time, Dante joins Lulu at Jakes for Karaoke Night. After Luke and Ethan did their number, Dante went outside to get some air and to think of what he is going to do. Lulu then goes outside with him because she feels he shouldn't be alone. He then told her about how the evidence wasn't enough and he confided in Lulu by telling her he may have second thoughts about taking down Sonny. Lulu comforts him by sharing a dance with him in the alley outside of Jakes.
On December 4, Sonny starts to get suspicious of "Dominic" when he starts to ask too many questions about Claudia's murder. He then explains to Sonny that he needs to know everything that happened that night in order to find out who took the picture of Claudia's dead body. He then was invited, by Lulu, over to her apartment because she wanted to apologize for the way she has been acting toward him and his situation. They both agree that it's hard for both of them because Dante is starting to see a different side to Sonny. Lulu then tells him that he needs a break from his problem and the two play a video game which leads to them kissing, which Lulu initiated. Dante then got a call from Jax and left Lulu even though he didn't want to. Jax told Dante that Olivia was at Sonny's house to tell him about Dante's mission, which the real truth she wanted to tell Sonny was that him and Dante were father and son.
Dante then shows up at Lulu's apartment one evening to take her on a date. He doesn't tell her where they are going, only that it is a formal event so she has to look really nice. When he comes back to pick her up, Maxie interrogates him on where he is taking Lulu and tells him he better not be thinking about "getting any" because Lulu was smarter than that. After a train ride and a limo ride, Dante reveals that he is taking Lulu to the opera like he promised her when they were in the Zacchara basement. At first she doesn't like the idea, but afterwards she is so moved she is crying. The storyline of the opera (in which one of the lovers dies) inspires her to take a chance and she kisses Dante in the limo. When she starts to undo his tie he asks her if she is sure that she wants to do that in the limo. She says life is short and you never know when you could get consumption like the woman in the opera. Dante says "thank you Puccini" and they continue to kiss. They are interrupted by the driver when they arrive at the train station. The driver offers to take them around the park a few times, but they say no, and that they will be out in a few minutes. They just lay back down together and Dante puts his arms around Lulu as she buries her face in his chest.
Lulu is kidnapped by Franco and straps her to a bomb. However, Lucky and Dante team up. As Lucky leaves to go find Lulu, Dante gets a call from Jason telling him where Lulu is and he rushes off to save her while Jason rushes to save Sam. Although, Sam's bomb is a fake, Lulu's actually blows up. Dante and Lulu manage to escape with no injuries. Later, because of his line of work, Dante tries to push Lulu away from him, though that rarely seems to work. When Dante goes to see Sonny, he tells him that when he retires, he will offer the Corinthos organization to Dante. Michael overhears this, and verbally attacks Dante. Dante and Johnny talk on the pier, and Michael listens. Michael then finds out that Dante is an undercover cop, but still is unaware of his true identity. Michael tells Sonny and Jason about Dante's intentions. At first, they are reluctant to believe Michael. Meanwhile, Lulu visits Dante, and the two profess their love to each other. they are interrupted by Ronnie, who informs Dante that they have the warrant for Sonny's arrest. Conflicted with his emotions, Dante says that they will arrest Sonny after Josslyn's christening, so that way the kids can spend one last day with their father.
In that time, Sonny and Jason learn that Dante is an undercover cop, still known as Dominic, and plan his death, but that doesn't work when Dante goes to see Sonny for a mysterious assignment. Sonny prepares to shoot Dante when he pulls out his badge, and then Dante explains about Mr. Poletti and how he was enraged when he was killed by Sonny. Sonny shoots Dante, and Olivia watches in horror, and rushes to Dante and calls him by his real name. Olivia, furious at Sonny, tells him that he shot his own son. Sonny is now aware that Dante, an undercover cop, is Olivia's and his son. The look on Sonny's face clearly shows that he is horrified by his actions, not knowing that Dante is his son, and the fact that Dante might die from his gunshot wound. Morgan later comes to visit Dante at the hospital and questions him about their bond, whether it was real or just a part of his cover up. Dante promises him their friendship was not a lie and Morgan tells him he's glad he's his brother. The two then hug and Dante is visibly touched by Morgan's words. Sonny gets out of prison on bail when Dante tells the police that states that he was snooping through one of Sonny's desk drawers when he found a gun, and upon trying to take out the clip he accidentally shot himself; this costs him his job at the NYPD, but he is subsequently given a position with the PCPD by the commissioner, Mac Scorpio. Later, Dante meets Sonny's niece, Molly Lansing, and assures her that, while he isn't entirely happy with being Sonny's son, he does enjoy being a brother to Kristina, Michael, and Morgan and a cousin to Molly herself. Nonetheless, Dante remains determined to bring Sonny down, and furious with Olivia for keeping the identity of his father a secret.
On March 16, 2010 Dante learns that his sister Kristina accused Ethan of beating her. He goes to her hospital room and checks on her. He listens to Sonny talk about how his mother was beaten by his step-father. Claire Walsh forces Dante to find Michael, who is on Sonny's private island.
Meanwhile, Dante and Lucky are persuaded to further investigate Kristina's story by a suspicious Jason. On April 2, they zero in on Kristina's boyfriend, Kiefer Bauer, and after interrogating him in a good cop/bad cop routine, they realize that Kiefer was the one who attacked her. Upon realizing that they are on to him, Kiefer attacks Kristina again in a fit of rage; this time around, Alexis arrives home and catches Kiefer in the act. While Kristina is in the hospital, Dante questions her about the incident and, after some encouragement, she finally admits that Kiefer was the one who attacked her on both occasions and that he had in fact hit her several times beforehand. Sonny overhears this and asks to speak to Dante in private, grateful that Kristina was able to trust him enough to tell him the truth. However, Dante rips into Sonny, informing him that Kristina only lied in the first place because she was afraid that Sonny would kill Kiefer and that her biggest concern is whether or not Jason has been sent out to do so when it should be getting better. He accuses Sonny of being a horrible father, and when Olivia walks in on them, Sonny takes his frustration out on her, stating that Dante only hates him because Olivia never gave them a chance to be father and son. Olivia stands her ground, and when she leaves, Dante punches Sonny on his mother's behalf, stating that he hates Sonny for who he is and not what his mother did. Sonny proceeds to warn Dante that he can only push him so far, and Dante, seeing this as proof of his words, boldly dares Sonny to "come and get him." Realizing how dangerous Sonny's world is, Dante reconciles with his mother.
Meanwhile, Kiefer is killed in a hit-and-run on the same night of Kristina's second beating. While investigating this, Dante is pressured by Ronnie and prosecutor Claire Walsh to find Michael to testify at Sonny's trial. However, it turns up no results, and Claire resorts to putting Morgan on the stand. Dante finds out when Carly comes to the station, wanting her son back. Dante calls in a favor to tell Carly where Morgan is, but before she shows up, Dante bursts in and goes to bat for Morgan, only to end up in jail for contempt. Alexis later confesses to Mac Scorpio that she accidentally hit Kiefer while driving Kristina to the hospital.
After being released, Dante discovers from Molly and Morgan that Kiefer's father, Warren Bauer, is ruthlessly persecuting Alexis and Kristina for Kiefer's death and has launched a smear campaign to make everyone think that Alexis hit Kiefer on purpose and that Kristina accused Kiefer of beating her to cover it up. When they ask him for help, Dante explains that, as a cop, he has to see both sides of the situation; Warren has a right to an investigation because Alexis did hit Kiefer and kept going, and because Kristina lied to the police for weeks and didn't say anything about Kiefer attacking her until after he died.
Mac subsequently assigns Dante to a narcotics case, which he knows is a decoy. He finds out Ronnie went to Sonny's island to get Michael, so he goes to Jason, thinking he got Michael back in Port Charles to avoid Ronnie. However, it turns out Jason didn't know and after Dante leaves, he shifts Michael to a hotel room. Unfortunately, Michael calls Morgan, who accidentally lets Dante know where Michael is. Dante shows up at the hotel, with the subpoena in hand.
On April 20, 2010, Dante finds Michael at a hotel and brings him back to Port Charles. While at the hotel, Michael confesses to killing Claudia. Dante doesn't believe Michael at first, but is convinced when Michael shows him the shirt he wore the night of the incident, still stained with Claudia's blood. Dante brings him back to Port Charles and tries to decide what to do. After briefly visiting Kristina at the Davis residence and being caught by Alexis, Michael escapes to the Quartermaine estate, but not before Alexis alerts the police to his return.
Dante walks into the courtroom right as the verdict on Sonny is about to come in and states that Michael is in fact the real killer. Michael is found by Lucky and confesses to killing Claudia again. Lucky brings Michael in to the PCPD. Later, Michael is charged with a Class D murder and is sentenced to 5 years of prison. Dante, like everyone else involved, is left guilt-ridden by his role in the tragedy; he only gave Michael up because he believed that the judge would see Sonny as detrimental to Michael's well-being and pass a lenient sentence on him. Jason makes a deal with Claire and heads to prison to protect Michael. Claire and Jax turn to Dante for help on persuading the judge to release Michael, and Dante eventually convinces him to release Michael under certain conditions; Michael will stay with Dante, wear an ankle monitor, and have minimal contact with Sonny. On November 18, 2010, however, Claire arranges for the restrictions on Michael's release to be lifted, allowing Michael and Sonny to see each other at any time.
Dante is later assigned to a case to catch serial killer, Franco. Knowing that he is Franco's main target, Jason strikes up a deal with Dante and Claire and is released from prison as bait. After Franco visits all the people he formerly hurt in Port Charles and leaves many clues, they are lead to Franco's art show in Los Angeles, California. Jason confronts Franco in the stairwell of a building, leading to a shoot out that ends on the roof. Franco jumps over the ledge of the building and falls to his death. They later find that it wasn't really Franco who jumped from the building, but a look-alike. Jason is subsequently sent back to Pentonville only to be released a few weeks later when Claire discovers a loophole in his plea bargain.
In May 2010, Carly brings Brook Lynn Ashton (Adrianne León) to town when she learns of her past friendship with Dante. She wants Brook to break up Dante and Lulu by seducing Dante. Dante is initially excited to see Brook, as they have a history together. However, he doesn't realize Brooks true intentions. On August 17, 2010 Brook Lynn asks Dante to come to Jake's and talk. When he arrives she makes up a story that she is suffering from panic attacks, when in reality she is being paid by Carly Corinthos to seduce Dante and take a picture, in order to break Dante and Lulu up. Brook Lynn gets Dante a beer and drugs it. After they talk, Brook Lynn takes Dante back to the loft and seduces him. Lulu then arrives to see Brook Lynn in her underwear making out with Dante. Lulu kicks Brook Lynn out and yells at Dante. The next morning Dante doesn't remember anything, but Michael explains what happened. Dante then brings flowers and cupcakes to Lulu in an attempt to reconcile. Dante and Lulu make up and Dante goes to Kelly's to talk to Brook Lynn.
On October 11, 2010, Dante walks into Sonny's living room to find Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil), his fathers old girlfriend. Dante had worked on a security detail for the supermodel in 2007, however the pair refrain from telling anybody. Through a series of flashbacks it is revealed that Dante helped cover up a murder for Brenda. In addition, Dante helped Brenda when she became pregnant by signing away his parental rights. When Dante confronts Brenda about the baby, she reveals that she miscarried. Meanwhile, Dante told Lulu that he had never met Brenda. When Lulu caught Dante in the lie, he changed his story by saying that he barely knew her, and didn't think she would remember him. Dante then told his brother Michael that he once had feelings for Brenda, and he thought he had been in love with her. On January 18, 2011, Lulu breaks up with Dante when she finds out about the murder he helped Brenda cover up in 2007. However, Dante is determined to win Lulu back, and the breakup makes him realize that what he had with Brenda was just a crush, and what he has with Lulu is real.
On February 2, 2011, Michael's friend, Abby, is nearly raped by her "friend" Brandon and saved by Michael. Michael subsequently admits to Dante that he was raped in Pentonville and that the whole thing was set up by Franco to mess with Jason's head. Shocked, Dante blames himself because he was the one who arrested Michael in the first place, especially upon realizing the similarities to what he and Brenda did. Upon finding out, Carly vows to redouble her efforts to make Dante's life miserable, and is only stopped from killing him outright by how much Michael cares for him. Dante admits to Lulu that he helped Brenda cover up a murder, but didn't do the same for his own brother, and says that she doesn't deserve to be with him because he's nothing but "a liar and a hypocrite." Dante even begins to consider leaving the force, but Michael persuades him not to and assures him that he does not blame Dante for the rape.
Dante then serves as the best man for Brenda's wedding to his father. During the wedding, Brenda objects in order to reveal the truth about the baby, after Carly threatened to expose her if she didn't leave town. Dante explained that he was not the father of Brenda's child but he lied about the paternity to keep Brenda safe. Lulu leaves the wedding and Dante follows her to her apartment where he tells her that he never slept with Brenda. He vows to make his relationship with Lulu work.
After the wedding, Sam McCall is caught in a car bomb as a decoy for the Balkan, now outed as Theo Hoffman, to kidnap Brenda, but survives. Sonny becomes obsessed with finding her, and attacks Shawn Butler, a mercenary who was previously working for Theo until he was betrayed, at Carly's house. However, he is stopped from torturing Shawn for information by the presence of Michael and Morgan, and finally forced to leave when Dante is called in by Morgan.
Later, Dante confronts Sonny and attempts to convince him to back down and let the PCPD handle it, but Sonny adamantly refuses. Eventually, Sonny offers Dante and Lulu money to go on an extended vacation, but Dante is reluctant, not wanting to give Sonny free rein to turn Port Charles into a war zone. However, he receives a call from Molly, who warns him that Michael has gone after an assassin hired by Theo and hasn't come back. Just as the assassin has Michael at gunpoint, Dante arrives on the scene. Michael uses the assassin's distraction to his advantage and disarms him. Both Dante and Jason are anything but pleased that Michael wants involved.
After bringing the assassin to the police station, Sonny arrives to question him, and Mac and Dante allow him to do so. Dante soon decides to team up with Jason and Sonny to track down Theo and Brenda. Though they save Brenda, Theo escapes, and Jason and Dante begin to butt heads over their differing opinions regarding handling Theo; Jason is perfectly content with killing Theo for what he did to Sam, while Dante is determined to arrest him and make him pay for his crimes in spite of Jason's insistence that Theo, as a lawyer, would easily find a way out of it. After being updated on the situation, Mac criticizes Dante for cooperating with Jason and Sonny and ultimately decides to assign a different detective to the Balkan case. Upon arriving home and discovering that Brenda is on the road to recovery, Dante reconciles with Lulu.
Dante is faced with further problems when Brandon gets out of prison on bail and has hired a lawyer to twist it around to make it seem that Michael attacked him unprovoked. Though Dante vows to fight the charges, Abby chooses to risk her own safety by dropping them, and is later assaulted by Brandon. Some time later, Brandon is found shot dead. Jason quickly becomes the prime suspect, though Dante does not truly believe that Jason was the killer.
During this time, Dante, Michael, Morgan, and Kristina are called together by Molly to plan Sonny's birthday party. Dante is initially hesitant, but Molly and the others manage to persuade him.
Dante later becomes involved in finding Lucian, the boy Brenda believed to be her son. They had a lead on Suzanne, who was believed to have kidnapped the boy. On the way to Texas Dante and Sonny realize that Lucian was not really Brenda's son. They find Suzanne with a little boy named Alec, Brenda's real son. They succeed in convincing Suzanne to hand the boy over to Carly, who accompanied them. After Carly goes into the car with the boy, Suzanne holds Sonny at knifepoint and Dante points his gun at her. In the car, Carly and Alec hear a gunshot.
On March 21, 2011, Lulus nephew, Jake, was hit by a car and killed. It is further revealed that the driver of the car that hit Jake was Lulus father, Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary), who is believed to have been drunk. As a result of this revelation, Luke begins on a path of destruction. His alcoholism becomes worse than ever and Lulu has a hard time dealing with it. Dante supports Lulu throughout her hardships with her father. Dante confronts Luke and tries to convince him to pull himself together for Lulus sake. However, Luke decides to skip town as he can no longer deal with his grief.
When Lucky is unable to find Luke, Lulu decides to search for him herself. She leaves a note for Dante and flies to Florida to the bordello where her father grew up. She poses as a business associate of Lukes, rather than his daughter. She meets the dangerous man in charge of the bordello, Javier, and he tells her that he does not know where Luke is but expects him to return shortly. Lulu decides to take a job waitressing at the bordello. Not soon after she arrives, Dante goes searching for her and finds her at the bordello. He gets a job at the bordello as a bouncer in an attempt to try to protect Lulu. He continually pleads for Lulu to return home with him, but she refuses.
Their time at the bordello comes to a climax when Javier finds out Dante is a cop as well as Lulu's boyfriend. Javier tries to rape Lulu but Dante arrives in time to save her. Dante assaults Javier and forces him to tell Lulu what he knows about Luke. Javier reveals that Luke is working with Helena Cassadine. Lulu and Dante then travel to the Cassadine island in Greece. Dante tries to pose as a man looking for work, but Helena already knows who he is. Instead, Lulu confronts Helena about her fathers whereabouts. Helena plays mindgames with Lulu and refuses to tell her Luke's exact location. Soon after, Lulu's brother Nikolas Cassadine appears and lectures Lulu on her search for her father. As a result, Lulu tells Dante that she has decided to return home without her father.
In August, Lulus brother Lucky takes on a case involving a local drug ring. As a result, Lucky is shot up by thugs and relapses back into his addiction. Dante is aware of this but Lucky insists that he doesn't tell Lulu because he didn't shoot himself up.
Meanwhile, it is Lulus birthday. Dante gives Lulu a key to his apartment and asks him to move in with her, but she cannot give him an answer. After Lucky sobers up, Dante visits him and tells him that he needs to tell Lulu the truth. However, Lulu walks in and hears them talking about Lucky's relapse. She is mad that Dante wasn't honest with her. Lulu breaks up with Dante. Dante pleads with Lulu to take him back but Lulu asks him if he would lie to her about Lucky again. Dante said he would in order to keep Lucky safe. Lulu then leaves Dante.
Lucky pleads with Dante not to give up on his sister because he doesn't want to be responsible for anything else bad happening. Meanwhile, Lulus stepmother Tracy tries to convince her that Dante is a good guy, and that he only lied to protect her brother.
Lulu then goes to Crimson to help Sam pick out a wedding dress. Little does she know that Dante had been in the other room talking to Olivia about her. Lulu holds a wedding dress up to herself, imagining what it would look like on her, when Dante walks in. They have a conversation about their relationship but Dante must leave for police business. Lulu continues to look at herself with the dress on.
Dante then decides that he wants to ask Lulu to marry him. He tells Olivia, and she sets up a dinner for the two on the rooftop of the MetroCourt. Meanwhile, Lulu asks Ethan to help her run away for a little while. However, Ethan tells Dante that Lulu has plans to leave, and Dante finds her at the Haunted Star and asks her to come with him. He takes Lulu to the rooftop and begins to propose, however Lulu talks over him and tells him that she can't trust him anymore. Dante then says "Dammit, Lulu. Will you just shut up and marry me?".
On night of Jason and Sam's wedding, Dante agreed to check Sonny's warehouse to make sure that other enemies of Sonny and Jason would not take the opportunity to cause trouble. Lulu in the other hand with the help of Ethan set up a fancy dinner that looks like a opera scene from a engagement that Dante likes, surprising him on the idea that she wants to marry him. Yet, in the warehouse Johnny was trying to plant drugs in Sonny's legit warehouse when Dante walked in. The warehouse was very dark as Dante and Johnny could not not see each when Anthony Zacchara walks in the warehouse and shoots Dante from the back. The bullet hits Dante from the back as he clinches everything around him and falls on the floor. Meanwhile, Lulu begins to worry and keeps looking at the clock on her phone and feeling that she has been stood up by Dante. She calls Ronnie about Dante's whereabouts were she does not successfully find Dante as Ronnie says that Dante is off duty. Dante still is struggling for his life in pool of his own blood, tries to use his phone were he is unsuccessful. Lulu tries to call Dante's phone but Dante struggles to pick his phone up and faints. Again, Dante tries to drag himself on the floor but again he faints where a dream of Lulu opening the door, worried as she looks around in her engagement dress. Meanwhile, Jason's wedding has ended and Carly has forgotten about the gift that is in the warehouse, so Micheal, Abby and Carly go to the warehouse to pick up the present. Micheal goes in the warehouse and picks the gift where he sees Dante on the floor. Micheal drops the gift on the floor and with panic in his voice he says "OMG Dante". Micheal tries to hold onto the gunshot wound and tries to use Dante's phone by whipping it on his shirt where he leaves a trail of blood. Micheal gets up to use the phone when Abby and Carly walk in to see Micheal a panicked, with blood on his shirt. Carly freaks out thinking that it's Micheal whose hurt, but Micheal assures her that Dante was the on who was shot. Still shocked, Carly and Abby try to help Dante. While putting pressure on the wound, Carly and Abby try convince Micheal to call an ambulance but he believes if they call the ambulance, the police will come and get Sonny in trouble again. Meanwhile, at Dante's place Lulu is upset and begins to clean up all the things that she had set up. In the hospital Steve and Olivia discuss the dinner they had and Olivia talks about how Dante and LuLu are probably engaged by now. Ironically that second Dante is brought in by the paramedics where Steve and Olivia are shaken. Olivia begins screaming "OMG....Dante, Dante its MOM can you hear me." She begins to shaking Steve and begs him to fix his son. Panicked Olivia calls Sonny who is still at Jason's wedding with Kate. Olivia tells him that Dante is in the ER and that he was shot in his warehouse. Sonny and Kate enter the General Hospital ER were Olivia tries to stop Sonny from going in the cubical where Dante is. Sonny fights back and tells Olivia " I just want to see my son". Then, Olivia calls Lulu to inform her of what happened to Dante. Lulu picks up the phone thinking its Dante and asked in angered tone where he was. But Olivia answers back telling her that she needs to come to the hospital because Dante was shot again. Lulu panics and drops the phone. Meanwhile Epiphany tells Sonny that he is not allowed to see Dante, but Sonny pushes her out of the way and enters the cubicle. Dante is on a gurney, shirtless and bloody, with Steve working on him. Steve turns around and tells Sonny to get out of the room as Sonny. Dante lost part of his lung but made a full recovery and Lulu said yes to his marriage proposal but on one condition: that they don't tell anyone but his mother. He leaves the hospital and goes back to work to early which upsets Lulu so much that she breaks off the engagement but later changes her mind and proposes to him and he says YES!!
On December 23, Lulu and Dante were married in a small ceremony in Brooklyn by Dante's cousin Tommy, and with only Olivia present. At the end of the ceremony, the rest of Dante's family came in the celebrate Lulu and Dante's union.