Lordian raised his hands in defense. "We won't stay any longer than you want to." With a gesture Betty came back over and he looked up to the smiling blonde. "Betty, can you have the chef throw something together for us please? Just let him know we don't have a ton of time, so no three course things, just one simple meal."

Betty nodded and leaned down to take the menu's leaving a small mark of lipstick on Lordian's cheek as she made her way toward the kitchen. He had not noticed when he spoke again.

"Alright, my one question..." He pulled out a pad and a pencil, writing his question down.

What is your home address?

He slid the pad over to Talia and then finished his glass of whiskey.

As Betty left the table, out of the corner of her eyes. Talia could see Betty giving her a rather scowling glare, it was something that she brushed off. Not cause she wanted to but out of the respect, she had already snapped at the woman once. Was something that Lordian wasn't particularly fond of the first time and didn't want to test the waters the second time. 

The lipstick mark she had left on his cheek though, was not appealing whatsoever. It stood out like a food stain on a white shirt, just wasn't a good look. 

She tried to ignore it by looking down at the pad he had just slid over to her but it was a like a train wreck, couldn't keep her eyes off of it. She had to say something. 

"Uh... your girl left a little bit of herself on you. It's not the most flattering look, thought you should know."

She rolled her eyes and softly shook her head before finally reading the page in front of her. Was a rather odd first question, one that she needed a clarification on. 

"Are you talking about now or where I grew up?"

Lordian looked into the clear glass of whiskey to see if he could make out the mark Talia was talking about. he could not.

"Could you maybe help me with this?" He gestured to his face, as he continued. "Maybe you have a compact mirror or something I could borrow?" He gave a scowl toward the kitchen where he knew Betty to be. It was one thing to be playful and flirty when business wasn't on the table. It was another entirely to embarrass him. She would certainly need talking to.

"As for the clarification. I mean, right now. When you go home tonight, where is it that you will go? I know you don't want to say out loud, so I provided you with a writing implement."

He held his hand out. "I really could use that compact if you've got it, otherwise, I'll have to excuse myself a moment."

Talia didn't hesitate, she leaned over to grab her bag that was on the chair sitting next to her. She always kept her compact in the side pouch inside the bag, so she didn't even need to look to find it. With a quick unzip, she pulled the compact out and held it in her hand in front of him. She was gonna say something snarky but figured to just leave it be, instead just placed it into his hand. 

"There you go!"

She grabbed the pencil and quickly scribbled down on the paper. 

"Palmer Park Apartment Building on Pontchartrain Blvd."

Placing the pencil onto the pad, she slid it back over to him. 

Lordian smiled and nodded his thanks as he dipped the corner of his napkin into a glass of water and began to wipe away the stain on his cheek. By the time he had finished the pad and pencil were back in front of him and he slid them into his pocket without taking even so much as a glance at them.

"Thank you." He said handing the compact back to Talia.

"So, food should be out any second, business is settled, we both look presentable, though one of us clearly had some work to do in that regard." He took in and let out a deep breath then. "Seems to me like we're going to have to find something to talk about to pass the time."

Then an idea hit him. His eyes gazed toward Talia's lips and he gave a slight nod, more to himself than anyone else.

"How would you like to piss off a waitress who overstepped tonight, and needs to learn a lesson? Nothing crazy, and no violence necessary."

He lifted his glass and the bartender nodded his acknowledgement.

Talia glanced over her shoulder briefly before directing her attentions back to Lordian. 

"I'm pretty sure me just being here, sitting across from you is pissing her off quite a bit. I'm listening though, what do you have in mind?"

Talia reached across the table, grabbed her compact and stuffed it back into it's proper home inside her bag. She was a bit intrigued to hear what he had to say, how quickly his mood had changed from being over protective of her to wanting to piss her off even further. 

It was almost as if a switch had flipped.

Lordian smirked. Just the corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he leaned in toward Talia.

"How well does that lipstick of yours stay on?" He asked as he slowly turned his face just enough that the exact spot where he had just removed lipstick from was exposed to the woman across the table.

She knew what he was getting at, it was a rather cruel and evil idea but it made her crack a smile. Not that the whole lipstick print was a good look but it would have been more of the meaning behind it. 

Reaching for her wine glass once again, she placed the stem of the glass between her fingers and instead of picking it up she turned the about 180 degrees. Giving him a rather good view of the lip print she had left on the glass.

"It comes off rather easily, if you can not tell. I can reapply though, make things a bit more vibrant." 

Lordian smiled in full then. "By all means do."

He watched silently as she took out her lisptick and again the same mirror she had given him. She was clearly practiced. It was not every woman who put makeup on each day. Talia clearly was one of those though. The practiced professionalism with which she covered her lips without so much as a quiver or a missed spot. Lordian knew very few things he was intuitively that good at. In fact, he might not be that good at anything at all.

He leaned in again then and turned his cheek as Talia finished applying. "Lay it on me big boy." He gave a bit of a lighthearted tone to his voice then. Sure it was a fun little game for the moment, but at the end of the day, Talia could not deny that she put her lips on him. There was something to be said for exactly how far one might be able to stretch the truth. There was something else, more deeply written, about how little hesitation she had in going along with this. But that would be homework for another time.

Talia reached into her bag, pushed the money envelopes aside, pulled out her Noir Red Lipstick and her compact. In a matter of a mere moment, she had freshened up the color onto her lips and tucked everything back into her bag. It was almost instantly as she put things away that he had made his "Lay it on me big boy" comment, it was a comment that made her briefly shake her head. It something she didn't comment on, even though she wanted to. 

With not much more thought into it, Talia leaned across the table and pressed her lips firmly onto his cheek in the same location Betty had. It was bright, it was bold and it stood out quite well. Would surely catch the attentions of anyone that glanced over in his direction. 

"Now try and not get too overly excited about that." She said as she sat back down into her seat then peered over her left shoulder towards the back to see if anyone specific was looking, which at the time she wasn't. 

"If I get a knife to the back over this, just know it is your fault." Talia half smiled as she reached for her glass of wine, a glass of wine that was almost gone at this point.

Lordian shook his head.

"If anyone is going to get a knife, it's going to be me, and it'll be just before the food comes out I gather."

As if he had spoken magic words, out came two plates of food, and the woman in question. Betty, to her credit, did not freeze, nor stop. She stared a bit at Lordian and Talia as she put the food down and there was a chill to her tone, but nothing more.

"The chef has prepared two T-bone steaks, bakes potatoes, and sauteed green beans for you. He recommends you pair it with the same red wine that your date requested." 

She followed that with a smile and then made waited just a moment to see if Talia would like another glass. She knew Lordian was only going to have his whiskey and it didn't matter what the chef proposed.

"She'll have another." Lordian said, straight-laced. Betty walked away then, puttin distinctly more sway to her hips than she did earlier. She'd gotten a point, although Lordian was unsure what that point was.

"That was not exactly what I anticipated happening. I'm a bit afraid that might have lit a fire under her instead of serving as a reminder."

He looked to Talia. "I guess I fucked that one up and now she sees you as competition. Not that you have much to worry about."

Talia looked over her left shoulder once again, the thought of a knife in her back was quite a plausible reality. Wouldn't have been the first time someone pulled a knife on her at least the other three times she saw it coming straight ahead. The whole to the back thing was something new, something she was keeping cautious about. 

"She will get over it or she won't and one of us will catch a knife." Talia commented then smirked after the fact. 

"To be perfectly honest with you, if she wasn't your employee and you wouldn't have grabbed me early. I probably would have beat her ass already, made a big scene here and pissed off more then just her. So in the grand scheme of things, I think she got off rather lucky. Wouldn't you say?"

With a smile, Talia reached once again for her wine. This time finishing the contents and placing the glass by the edge of the table. Glancing quickly at her watch once again, realizing how quickly time was flying by, Talia spoke up once more. 

"I know the food just got here but I'd like to be out of here within the next 15-20 minutes. The day is starting to get away from me and I still have a lot of pick ups to go do. We can eat a bit though, just can't be here forever."

Lordian nodded. "Yes boss." He smiled and picked up a fork and knife.

As always the food was excellent. The steak cooked to just medium as he liked it and the garlic sang through the notes of salt when it came to the green beans. Tonight though, the real winner was the potato. Lordian didn't know exactly what the chef had done at first, it took him a minute to suss it out but eventually he did.

"Rosemary infused butter."

He had meant to keep it in his own head, but when he saw the look from Talia he knew he had said it alound.

"The baked potato. I was trying to figure out what it was that made it different. Normally you would use some butter, maybe top it with some sour cream and some chives. The chef tonight though didn't use just any butter. He used dried rosemary and infused the butter with it. I'm not sure if he simply pan-infused it, or if he mixed it. I can't see any rosemary, so that leads me to believe he pan-infused it and just took the butter itself, but again, can't be sure."

He stopped himself then. he had always had a propensity to ramble when it came to food. His mother always told him he was like his father in that respect. his father always knew what he was doing in the kitchen according to Victoria. Lordian had the palate, but not the experience, his life had gone a bit differently after all.

He tried to chang the subject before he embarrassed himself too much.

"So where are we headed next?

Talia just sat there and listened, he was quite excited in his tone when he was talking about the food. To her it was just food, sure it was good but that was the extent of it for her. She wasn't much of an eater, ate more like a bird more times then not and it showed from the plate in front of her. Just a few bites taken out of the steak and a few green beans. She hadn't even tried the potato that he was so elegantly describing.

"It's that good, huh?"

The compelling feeling to try it, was more forced onto her then anything else but she gave it a go. Digging her fork into the potato and bringing it to her mouth. Yeah it was good but to her, it was still just a potato. Though she made to play it off as if it was delicious, didn't say anything just smiled a big smile. 

Quickly after she switched over to his inquiry. 

"Uh... there's a print shop, a hotel and a few other places. If you have a business you need to attend to you don't need to accompany me. I'm quite capable of doing this myself. If you do though ever feel so inclined to come with, you're more then welcomed."

Lordian put his knife and fork down and dabbed at his mouth.

"I would be a very poor muscle if I were to let you trot off by yourself I think. You lead the way and I'll be right there with you until you actually order me otherwise."

He smiled and gathered his things, offering to help her up from the booth as he stood.

"I'm quite enjoying this actually, running around with something to do other than figuring out my own shit. It's relaxing."

With that he started toward the front door.

Guess it was time to go... Talia thought to herself as Lordian rose from his seat. There was only one issue first, there was still wine left in the newly brought over glass. It wasn't really much of an issue but more so something that couldn't be left. 

Following his lead, she stood up but instead heading towards the door Talia grabbed the glass of wine. She could see he was giving her a bit of a look over, wondering if she was coming or not. Raising a single finger and not the middle finger... Talia gestured for him to hold up a moment. 

The wine went down rather smoothly and very quickly. Once done she placed the glass back onto the table and made her way to the front door, a front door which he was already holding opened. As she walked by him, he gave his head a shake. 

"What? That would have been an utter waste of good wine and that is one thing I will not ever let go to waste."

Vincent loved fancy restaurants all his life, it was like his secret hobby he enjoyed. He was dressed in black suit as he entered the restaurant. He liked what he saw. He asked for an empty table and got one. He sat down, and lighted up a cigarette. Waitress came and gave Vincent a menu. He looked at it and ordered a steak with some potatoes and a ceasare salad, also a bottle of red wine. Waitress wrote it down, thanked and went to give the order to the kitchen chef. 10 minutes later she came back and brought the order. The dish looked fabulous and smell was even better. Vincent thanked her, gave her a little tip. She thanked back and smiled as she continued to serve others. Vincent enjoyed the food and the wine. After finishing his dinner, he smoked another cigarette and then paid for his order. He walked outside, sat in his car and drove home.

Father didn't kid in his journals...this was...fuck sake...he really didn't know how to describe it...he really wished that he had met the Isabella Luciano that his father had admired so much. He stood there, looking around and for once, HE was nervous...like really so, without another word he wondered if she would make it...had he been wrong in assuming that much? Maybe so...no, he had seen the way she had looked at him...there was no faking that look. 

She looked forward to this as much as he did...yeah everything was fine, he was sure of it and only then did he realize he needed a bloody drink. He walked to the bar, ordering a strong one..he did drink, just not as much...he noticed the bartender giving him a look. One that held slight amusement and he smiled back at her, maybe he was blowing this way out of proportion. 

"Nerves...hmm...on a kid like you, I'd say you were on a date...one that has you clearly second-guessing her or him?"

Raising his brow, he looked at her, she had read him. He wondered if all bartenders were just elite profilers, knowing how to look at the signs with their patrons. He had to give her the nod at that, she had certainly painted him well...and for a moment, he felt a shiver run through, slight odd fear at her. 

"Her, she's...beautiful, amazing, funny...has wit and enjoys to fight back. Knows how to rile me up and here I am, I'd say that she and I are alike in some fashion."

The bartender continued to watch him, looking at him in a certain kind of light for a moment before a secret smile appeared on her lips. Oh she wasn't going to tell the kid what she could already see but she wondered, if he had felt this way, maybe the girl did too. The way he was, his natural looks and tone of voice, he could draw a girl in and easily have his way, yet here he was. 

A bag of nerves and it gripped at him, seemingly eating him inside out.

"You really like her, kid. Hmm, she's a lucky girl indeed. I'd say that she feels the same and that she will be earlier than you expect, the way you talk about her...you can't just fake that kind of excitement, on both ends."

Shaking her head, she wished the kid the best. Only the way he was looking, it looked like he almost didn't believe, yet the door opened and in walked a woman...

Sal looked at up, noticing the woman smiling at something behind him...and he wondered for a moment, she was actually here!? He turned his head, and he almost fainted when he saw her. 

He felt completely different when compared to her, he was dressed in his black suit, a blood-red business shirt that fit him like a glove, his hair maintaining it's natural messy wave that seemed to suit him more than he ever knew. it gave him a roguish look that would appeal to most women, then the classic smirk, it twitched at his lips as he saw her. 

Taking a single, he looked her up and down, his eyes roaming her like she was a precious piece of ancient jewellery...a single touch of her could have damaged her. Sal almost couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, yet he did and he saw something else, he saw how beautiful her eyes were, how she seemed to let go of that mischief that usually shone when they had traded barbs. 

There was a light there, something that he would not deny, ever. At this moment, he was sure that her conclusions were not wrong that he truly liked her...that she was something men desired to have ten times over...and yet here she was, right here with me.

He could only say one word at this time, and yet it would seem like he recited a poem, his voice soft, yet firm. It held a tone of surprise and yet awe...he still couldn't believe his eyes but here she was. 

"Sana...."

Sana wished she could say she arrived at the Blackhawk Restaurant, looked around, marveled at the absolute beauty of the place, and then looked across the floor and locked eyes with SalvatorePavanno. She wished she could say she smiled warmly as she felt the world stand still for a moment, just for the two of them, as they made eyes across the room and held their breath, afraid that the slightest movement could jolt them awake and make them realize this was just a dream. She truly wished she could say that she walked on over to him in a long, red dress that fell to the floor and twirled as she got to his side, making a snarky little comment about how they both had red as the central accent of their outfits tonight. She would have pretended not to be so, but Sana's breath would have been caught in her throat a little as she noted how well Salvatore cleaned up while still managing to maintain his ruggedly charming good looks. She probably would have kissed him right there and then.

But their relationship had been cursed with wishful thinking since day one because this was far from the reality of what happened. Sana arrived 15 minutes too late and as soon as she did, her stomach dropped and she felt her mouth go dry. Patrons of the restaurant were on the Street, looking worse for wear. Cops swarmed all over the place and there was a trail of blood leading from the inside to the curbside, where she could only assume whoever was hurt was loaded into a vehicle of some sort. She had a bad feeling she already knew what or who it was, but she elbowed her way inside anyway, to see if perhaps Salvatore was still there, waiting for her.

There was no blue-eyed boy sitting in wait for her but instead a group of cops who looked like they were half-assing their jobs, and a bartender who looked at Sana and did a double-take. Sana made a beeline for her direction and with franticness in her eyes, she opened her mouth to speak, and out came a cracked, stuttering voice. "E-excuse me, what happened here? I had a date... I had a date with this amazing guy and I was a bit too late... Did you happen to see a--"

The bartender cut her off prematurely, a look of pity in her eye. "A young blonde, blue-eyed boy about ye tall who likes good bourbon?" The bartender gestured to indicate a height that was exactly Salvatore's. Sana nodded, hope blooming inside her. Perhaps he had left? Or was in the back? That look in the bartender's eyes told her otherwise though. "I'm sorry kid, but that blood on the floor... that's his. A black car pulled up, out came a few men and he was gunned down right there. He managed to call for help somehow though, because then another car pulled up and took him to safety, or at least I'd hope so. Think I heard something about his sister? I can't really tell what happened after that..."

She kept droning on about the gory details of things but Sana had already tuned it all out. She gripped the corner of the bar for a moment of two as she felt her world spinning uncontrollably... she might get sick. "I-I'm sorry, I have to go," she managed to mutter before heading for the direction of the door, all the while trying to avoid looking at the pool of blood in the center of the room. She stood outside with the other patrons, face completely blank as she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She stood there thinking about the whys and what-ifs until she was the only one left out there. Why was he gunned down? Why now, of all times, when he was simply looking to have a good time? Was he involved in the same line of work as she was now? Most of all... what if she had arrived sooner, would he still be here?

"Oh, you're still here?" The bartender looked over at Sana with concern as she was about to head home for the night. It was well into the night by now, and Sana was close to shivering outside, but she couldn't move. "C'mon, let get you a cab. I'm sure... I'm sure he's alright. Don't worry, love." Sana looked at her as she gently nudged Sana towards the cab which the bartender had called for her. She slumped inside as she told the man her hotel in the city. The bartender waved as her taxi sped off, and she looked outside the window in a daze.

"I do hope you're alright, wherever you are, love."

Finally, a black three-piece suit and a red tie, he felt comfortable again. Cause for the love of everything that is holy to him, he couldn't come inside this place looking like he had just come off the court, for now, it was okay with him the way it was going. For now, DickGrayson had been called, finally. 

It had been a few days but since his disappearance, he wanted to make sure they were still on and how their business would seem positively affected. Especially after this recent news of movements scattered throughout Detroit, it was a bit odd and for now he needed to make sure that this kind of thing stayed low-key. 

"Boss, calm down, look at ya. I'm here now and I'm going to make sure you're protected, alright?"

Scoffing, Rom wasn't pissed but he knew that wasn't the case. He had been in Chicago and Gerry had been elsewhere, where? Who the fuck knows! All he knew was that this kind of thing was making him paranoid, either he felt like this life, one of criminal endeavours was not for him or someone in his circle had ratted him out...

Gerry was the only one of his boys that he trusted above them all, he was someone that had been with him for a while. To have him killed, to have him become someone that was but a footnote in his rise to seeming power would take balls. He thought Gerry wasn't like that but very few people were content with their lot in life, sighing, maybe the Irishmen did need to be taken care of before long. 

"You didn't have my back in Chicago man, let's not talk about this alright? Fuck sake, you weren't there!"

And like that, Gerry shook his head, understanding that he had fucked up. Not once noticing that his boss' eyes were on him, measuring him up for whom he could have been and who he was right now. 

"And I'm trying to apologize, I got caught up alright!? You always said business took precedent and that's what I was taking care of! If I knew there was a possibility of you being hit, then trust me that I would have taken the bullet, alright?"

Except he wasn't hit, he had been roughed up and driven to Wisconsin, all he was that this shit had been done with efficiency. Someone had known that he was going to be in Chicago and someone sold him out. For now, he would wait for Grayson and get that report back on the product. 

The Blackhawk was a place of refined business, he wasn't going to be dragging in the matters of his crew here. That wasn't for them to know, plus, from what he knew, a few Coppers and Feds frequented this joint. So there was no chance in hell that he was talking in The Blackhawk any more, not a single chance. At least, not until Gray had arrived.