Billy slowly made his way over to the bar, figuring he could sit down for a few minutes while he waited, or maybe, get the bartender to give him the location of Aurora. Not everyone here could be fiercely loyal, right?

"Barkeep, Whiskey on the rocks please."

He normally ordered it neat, but since Aurora wasn't around, the ice would help to slow him down a bit till he found her.

As he slid the bartender too much cash Billy started up again.

"Hey bud you can keep the change, just do ma a favor. You point out the one woman in here who struck you as the fiercest broad in the place."

The guy shrugged, he wasn't turning down that kind of cash, and then he pointed with his towel toward a think blonde woman with cold eyes of green. Billy had seen this kind of woman before, she certainly would have fit the description, but she was no Aurora.

"Cheers."

Billy said, and turned to keep walking along the bar, as if he was making his way toward the woman. He would see Aurora at some point right? Just had to keep moving.

"Would you believe me if I told you I knew the owner?"  She said to Gabriel, turning herself in such a way that his body would quit brushing her legs.  He countered by leaning on the bar to her left, like a snake coiling about her, he was closer now than he was before!  This man was very, very good at his game.  If she hadn't been waiting for her boyfriend she might have been amused enough to have given him a shot - but she DID have a boyfriend and he wasn't taking a hint.

"Classy dame like you, I wouldn't have been shocked if you told me you owned the place."  

Her eyes scanned the room for Billy, hopeful she'd see him coming her way.

"You keep looking out at that dance floor like you won't be parted with it."  He put a hand on hers and lowered his voice suggestively.  "You sure you don't want to take a spin around it while you wait for your date?"

Aurora pulled her hand away.  "I'm not that sort of girl, Mr. Mason."

"Maybe you just haven't met the right sorta guy yet."  He said taking her hand a second time.

Aurora's amber eyes flashed with indignance as she tore her hand away and reacted without thinking better of it.  

CRACK!

She hit him with her full force, palm open, right across his mouth.  Her nostrils flaring she tried to find the right words and only became increasingly flustered as he didn't look taken aback or ashamed but instead ... he was actually laughing!

"Oooooooooooo"

The collective sound of a group of people all who had heard the same noise from just about ten feet ahead of where Billy was standing. That was a sound Billy had heard before, and he doubted his life would be without ever again.

It was a sound of rejection, and also of aggression. One of Anger, and sometimes fear.

What Billy did not expect was that the sound was followed by laughter, and then... Rora. She was sitting on a bar stool, her hand still raised and the man in front of her was laughing. She had slapped him and he was laughing. Whatever the hell happened, Aurora wasn't one to do that for no reason. So Billy did what Billy was good at. He made his way over there.

Billy reached out to his left, and slid his glass of whiskey down the bar. It went just far enough that it got to the man, but no so far as to pass him. As he looked down at the drink that had suddenly and inexplicably appeared there, Billy grabbed him by the back of his head and pushed down toward the bar with all of the force in his arm.

The sound of human flesh slapping human flesh was one thing. The sound of a fully grown man's skull slamming against a solid pieced of wood was another one entirely. Billy watched as the man staggered back away from the bar a second, very much dazed. Billy reached out, and picked up his drink to sip it.

"Hey there beautiful." He said to Aurora with a wink and a smile. "You come here often?"

He was hoping she would pick up on his playing with the man whose world he had just dazed, but if she didn't Billy could just knock the guy out if he had to.

Aurora saw Billy coming even if Gabriel didn't.  She winced slightly as the man's skull cracked on the bar, again several people in the club let out gasps.  The bouncers were moving towards them now but Aurora held up a hand to forestall their approach.  Her heart was racing as she smiled at Billy, calmly drinking his whiskey hitting on her as if he'd done nothing violent at all.  

She tried to hide her smirk but her eyes were smiling, even if her lips desperately clung to their neutral state.

"You know my boyfriend has quite a temper.  If he finds you here talking to me..."  She said to and joking back with Billy.  All the while she reached out and grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and began pulling him towards her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gabriel grabbing his head, stumbling back away from the two of them.  "I'm... I'm sorry."  He stammered.

"You better kiss me before he finds you here with me."  She said staring into Billy's eyes ignoring Gabriel as he made his way towards the exit.

Billy did just as he was instructed to. He let one hand fall behind Aurora's back to support her as he leaned into her a little. He didn't want her to fall off the stool she was on, but he wanted her to know exactly how much he had missed her being away from him. He tried to convery as much in a kiss, but there truly was only so much you could do, especially in public. After a time that was far shorter than he would have liked, but certainly longer than either of them should have let linger, Billy pulled slowly away.

"So, how was your date with Alucard? Cause I'm thinking I need to make sure this is more exciting."

He smiled and sat her up straight again before looking at her drink.

"And what are you drinking by the way? It's got bubbles in it, is that just seltzer?"

The conversation continued to flow freely. Roxanne occasionally offered a witty remark or a funny quip and enjoyed the mellifluous laughter it elicited from her host. The woman was on her second glass and the more she sampled the faux champagne, the more Roxanne felt comfortable probing behind the wall that guarded her intimate secrets.

They talked briefly about Eva's parents, her profession and her other interests. Her disparaging remark about men caused Roxanne to raise an eyebrow in amusement but before she could answer a loud slap resounded from near the bar. She turned her head to catch a brief glimpse of a beautiful woman in a stunning red dress who appeared annoyed and perhaps a little flustered while the man beside, probably the victim of her undoubtedly justified assault, appeared to be laughing. "Fate seems to agree with you médecin." She replied and nodded towards the commotion. "That is as good of an illustration as any, wouldn't you agree?"

With a sardonic smile, she shook her head and attempted to return to the conversation they were previously engaged in when another sound, louder than the previous, followed by a crash echoed through the establishment. Rolling her eyes, she turned towards the ruckus again and took a long drag of her cigarette. She couldn't make out exactly what had occurred. All she saw was the aftermath. A second man kissing the woman as the first retreated, clutching at his bleeding forehead and mumbling an apology.

"Mademoiselle Hadley," She said in a voice that hinted mild annoyance. Turning towards her host, she stubbed out her cigarette in an ashtray and took a moment to process her thoughts. A practised polite grin appeared on her face, one that contrasted with the disapproving gaze in her eyes as she continued.  "Disingenuous wine, uncouth patrons, loud interruptions, no one can excuse this business of being generic or lacking in character. But when I extended this invitation and requested you suggest a location with a certain je ne sais quoi, I did not realize you had such... peculiar taste." 

"They call it a gin fizz."  She said with a chuckle.  "Lemon juice, gin, syrup, and soda water.  It's rather delicious to be honest.  Shall we find a table for dinner?"  She slid off the bar stool and hid her wince as she came down on her sore feet, wrapping her arm around his so he could lead the way.  Aurora clung to Billy and beamed with pride as she looked up at his strong facial features adoringly.

"Let's get a booth."  She told him as they walked.

"My 'date' with Alucard as you call it was more or less my coming by unexpectedly to do as he asked - have a chat.  He's an interesting fellow.  He's hard on himself though, though having heard a bit more about his story I can understand why.  It's a shame people can be so cruel."  She shook her head.  "No one should have to suffer as he has... in some ways his story reminds me of my father's.  It's just not right and I'm thankful that he and Integra found each other as they have."

She nodded.

"How was your day?  I didn't steal you away from anything terribly important I hope?"

"Nothing as important as you Rora."

Billy smiled at his girl and then looked around the room.

"Doesn't your mother own the place? Can't you just pick a table and point at it and then that one suddenly becomes your table for the evening?"

Billy shrugged, maybe Aurora didn't want to feel important today. Maybe she just forgot.

"Don't matter to me much though, table, booth, hell I'd eat at the bar if you wanted. Just as long as it's you and me and good food and some music."

He smiled again and let Aurora lead the way to where they would be seated for dinner. He watched as the people in front of them parted out of their way. Billy had, after all, just smashed a man's head onto the bar and then walked away, even with all the bouncers in the room. Clearly he was someone not to be messed with.

Aurora smirked at Billy and stood a little on her tiptoes to whisper to him, "Well... someone's feeling assertive tonight."  she chuckled.  "I don't want to chase off mom's patrons anymore than that creep hitting on me might have.  Let's just pick a table that's already open."

She pointed at a quiet corner booth with a view of the dance floor.  "That one will do nicely."

She slid into the booth.  The waiter came quickly to the table, "Good evening Miss Byrne... Don Mastrosimone, so good of you to join us tonight.  Would you like to see the wine list?"

"We don't need it."  Aurora admitted.  "Let the chef know we're here, have him impress us and please... make certain he has sizable portions for the Don.  I'll be very disappointed if my boyfriend leaves the establishment even slightly peckish.  We'll drink whatever the Chef recommends to go with his meal."

The waiter nodded, "Of course, Miss.  I'll see that the Chef knows."  He quickly backed away from the table.

Aurora looked to Billy, and she spoke with a true excitement in her tone, "Can I admit something?  All I've thought about since you told me, is this trip we're going to take.  I actually spent the entire day yesterday shopping for it.  I'm absolutely dying to get on board a ship and sail off with you to see the Old Country.  This is going to be the best trip I've ever taken... I'm sure of it!"

Billy cocked his head to the side.

"Really? I thought it would be nice, but I didn't think it was going to be that big a deal. I just wanted you to meet my Nonna is all. Maybe have a little vacation. Go swimming in the Mediterranean and bask in the sun a little bit. You know, sort of take a load off. We've been through a ton of crap and I think we deserve a vacation just the two of us."

Billy picked up the glass of water on the table and took a drink. He liked the music, and the atmosphere. Bella was right, this place was amazing, and he really should have taken her up on it when she wanted to give it to him. Instead he was going to have to build a place of his own to rival hers.

"Speaking of a nice vacation and shopping, tell me something. What exactly have you gone and bought?"

"Oh Billy, it's going to be much more than that.  It'll be our first time spending days on end together.  It's such a big deal!  As for what I bought... well, I chose a new evening gown, a nice simple dress for our days in the countryside, one of those new two-piece bathing suits you see in all the picture shows these days, these torture devices,"  She lifted the hem of her dress to show off her high heels 

"And,"  Aurora smirked and opened her purse.  "... because I had a feeling you might ask what I bought, I kept this item out for you to inspect later."

Under the table, she passed what looked like a tiny scrap of pale pink silk cloth into his hands and whispered into his ear, "The top matches that bottom you're holding.  I'll have to show you when we go back to your place because I'm wearing it right now."

She pulled back from him with a shit-eating grin that split her face ear to ear just as the waiter came to them with a bottle of wine.  He poured two glasses before retreating from the table.

"Of course, if I don't get that back at some point it's going to be a drafty trip home tomorrow so... I will be asking for them again at some point."  She gave him a wink and took a sip of her wine, amused to give a call back to their last date.

"Do you like my shoes?"  She asked with a smirk.

Billy stared down at his hands stunned. The last time it was a dare, and the power was in his hands. This time Aurora held all the cards. This was fun.

He looked up to see her grinning at him and he returned a wolfish one himself.

"I do like your shoes, though I must say I was going to think about dancing tonight with you, this might make that slightly more muted of a routine if we decide to cut a rug wouldn't you say? Unless of course you took a trip to the ladies first. I mean, I thought you might want to show off a little in your mother's place. I'll bet you can dance circles around her."

Billy looked around and then shook his head. He pulled out a small notepad and wrote something down inside before folding it back up and putting it out of sight again.

"I haven't bought anything special for our trip I confess. Although I did have a very nice night with your father recently at a poker tournament I ran. Did he tell you about how he won?"

Aurora tried to steal a peek at what Billy wrote down, but only playfully though.  She didn't push too hard.  She chuckled when he mentioned the poker tournament. 

"Actually he did!"  She shook her head.  "He called me right after the tournament I think.  Woke me from a dead sleep.  We didn't talk long but he told me he took home the pot and..."  

She stifled a chuckle, "If I didn't know better I might have thought he called just to ask me if I loved you, of all things... it was kinda sweet really."

She softened the sexy playfulness from a moment earlier cooling into a look of genuine love, "I haven't heard him like that in a long while.  Probably back when I had pneumonia - but that's been years ago now.  Anyway, he said you made it all the way to the end with him, so, congratulations!  I mean, I know my father is about impossible to beat at cards so you shouldn't feel bad that he took the pot.  Truth is, you've come a long way if you made it all the way to the end with him!  I mean think about it!  Wasn't long ago you were telling me that poker wasn't your game and now you're staying in it until the end with a shark like my dad.  I'm quite impressed, I must say."

Billy waved a hand.

"I just got real lucky, right up until the end. Your old man pulled a goddamned royal flush on me in the end. Bastard took the whole damned thing. We were playing winner-take all, and there went ten million that I put together for the tournament."

Billy shook his head.

"I knew your dad was good. I had no idea he was lucky too."

He sipped at his wine.

"Maybe he asked if you love me cause he felt bad about taking that much money from me. Didn't stop him though..."

He gave Aurora a questioning look.

"You did tell him you love me right? You didn't hesitate? Maybe that's why he was fine taking it. Maybe he thinks you're not so sure. Cunning bastard."

He said the last bit more to himself than to Aurora. He was going to make sure that she was nowhere near the scent of what he was really up to that night.

Aurora laughed, "Of course I didn't hesitate.  I can't tell you how much it means to me that my father loves you as much as he does.  Oh, he'd never say it.  He's not that sort... especially to another man, but he must like you a great deal.  You should hear how he talks about you to mom."

She shook her head.

"I'd love you even if he didn't, but it does mean a lot to me that he does want you as part of our family."  she sighed and said a little nervously, "I just hope your family likes me as much as mine likes you!"

Billy nodded.

"I'm sure they will. I don't know anyone in the world who wouldn't. Nona can be a tough nut to crack sometimes, and I'll warn you right now, if you don;t know your way around the kitchen she might ask me what I'm doing with you. But if she offers to teach you anything then, that means she likes you."

He sipped his wine again and then looked Aurora in the eye.

"And even if she doesn't, I don't care. You're mine, and I am yours profondità della mia anima."

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it then.

Following the curious gazes of the crowd toward what seemed to be an altercation, Eva squinted a bit to see. It didn't take long for her to notice Aurora Byrne standing in front of a bleeding man who appeared to be laughing with some kind of shock. Eva's expression hardened a bit. If Aurora was in Detroit- dressed to the nines at a swanky restaurant- Billy wouldn't be far behind.

Eva sighed and looked away from the scene, back to her guest.

"Fantastic. That woman happens to be my boss's girlfriend. And if she's here..."

The sentence was cut off by a loud cracking sound and a chorus of gasps from the patrons. Without even looking back, Eva's eyebrows raised slightly.

"Aaannnd there it is."

Taking her glass in hand, Eva drained the third glass of champagne and gave her dinner companion an apologetic glance to her table mate.

"Yes, well, this place has a rather impeccable reputation; but Aurora Byrne tends to attract...beaucoup de mal."

Eva set the glass on the table.

"She also happens to be the owner's daughter and I'm fairly certain she hates me with the fire of a thousand hells. So, Mademoiselle LeRoux, if you'd prefer we find another venue, I would be most happy to agree." 

"Byrne you say?" Roxanne asked intrigued and gave the strange woman another glance wondering if she was in anyway related to the leader of her own organization somehow. She had to admit to herself, there appeared to be a slight resemblance, but from that far apart it was hard to say for sure. 

"So that must mean the violent brute accompanying her is your boss." Looking back and forth between the man and Eva wondering if there was some unspoken attraction between the two. Intrigued by the potential for some scandalous gossip, she gestured for the waiter to refill Eva's glass just as she finished her third. It was obvious that the appearance of the pair had bothered Eva enough to let her guard slip somewhat. Attempting to take advantage of her mildly inebriated state, Roxanne began her ploy. 

"Does it bother you seeing your Boss with this woman? I don't even know them and it bothers me. Like fire, they burn with passion and desire, but like fire, they will fizzle out soon." The next bit was crucial, so she ensured she went about it in a subtle manner. Clasping the woman's arms in her gloved embrace she used an idle finger from the other hand to push a lock of hair behind Eva's ear. All of this while she continued to whisper in a soft voice. "He seems like a fine young man. Someone who deserves far better. As someone who knows him well, were you disappointed in his choice?"

Using the gentle nudge of her finger on the woman's chin she turned Eva's eyes up towards her own seemingly empathetic, enigmatic ones. "Disappointed he chose her... and not you?" She asked, appearing concerned while remaining inwardly amused at the childish cliche of it all.

"If she wants to teach me a thing or two, I'm willing to learn.  I can't see any harm in learning a new trick or two in the kitchen... though I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.  I've never much enjoyed work in the kitchen and I don't think a few lessons from your Nona are likely to change much."

She paused and then asked, "Would you be okay, while we're there, with visiting Marie's family?  My Grandma Conti and I have kept in touch via letters and the occasional phone call.  She's a very sweet old lady who I know would be deeply hurt if I didn't go to see her at least briefly while we're in Sicily."

Billy nodded.

"Of course, and you never know what you might find when you dig up your history. We might be able to learn a thing or two about each other doing that."

He watched as the chef himself was making his way over to the table followed by a waiter carrying a tray.

"Oh great, Roar, you stroked this guy's ego and now he's gonna talk our ears off I'll bet."

He smiled at her and waited for the chef to start his rant. Whatever he said, Billy would very likely eat it and enjoy it too.