As William excused himself from the poker game and stood up from table Marie did the same.  "I will join you."  

The awkwardness of the threesome's interaction had not been missed by anyone at the table.  Gavin had excused himself to go get a drink and covered by asking if anyone else wanted one.  The of choice for most at the table had been whiskey.  Marie had been an exception in that her request had been for a gin.  Further proof of Gavin's state of mind came in his breech of protocol when he returned to the table.  Marie had heard that Gavin was often one to thumb his nose at norm behavior, but she did not think that was the case in this instance.  As for Isabella; she had made it a point to not let her gaze linger on William when she had greeted him, and the greeting itself was subdued in nature.  William, though usually somewhat on the quiet side seemed almost to be a mute.  The tension in the room was thick enough you could cut it.  Even Don JackMezzo had commented on the 'unholy trinity' that sat at the table.

Marie knew the dynamics had changed.  Such subtle information was key in analysis changes in the political landscape. While she had no desire to interfere in Isabella's love life, Isabella was the daughter of two godfathers.  Her choices in life were not locked away like a ship in a bottle.  They would impact these shores they all lived in and the ripple effect could have lasting changes.

Grabbing her purse she put her chips inside as she moved to leave the room with William.  Being in this situation with the Godmother was probably the last thing the poor lad wanted in the moment, but her rank did not allow him a way to escape -- and unlike Gavin, William was know for always observing protocol from what she had been told.

After they had walked a bit in silence, Marie finally spoke up, "It is good to finally meet you in person.  I have heard much about you.  You are highly respected in Philly and quickly becoming a major player.  This is a great accomplishment for I know the leadership in the city of brotherly love to be top notch and button downed.  I am certain it would not be easy to impress them."

William had accepted Jack Mezzo's invitation to the table not realizing that Isabella would be in attendance let alone that Gavin would be in condition to play. He'd tried to be respectful, but knew he wouldn't be able to handle seeing the two of them together too much. Initially the seating made it tolerable but when Gavin seated himself directly between William and Isabella he knew he needed to leave before he caused problems. The wound of letting Isabella walk away had been too fresh.

He had let Godmother Marie know he was poor company at the moment and was almost surprised when she had followed alongside regardless. She was one of the most notable names in the entirely of their line of work and more respected still by William as the mother of the woman he had fallen for, which gave him pause In responding. He couldn't refuse to speak with her and truth be told he didn't want to burn that bridge, but he wasn't sure of himself. Marie being a Godmother it wasn't his decision to make.

"I've just done what was necessary to the best of my abilities. The leaders here are excellent men and women of honor and I'm proud to stand as a part of what has been built. I had certainly also hoped to meet you in person as well. I just hoped it would be," William caught himself before he said the words "beside Isabella" and missed only a half beat before saying, "under different circumstances."

Marie nodded.  They walked a few more steps in silence before she spoke up again.  What she needed to say was a difficult matter to breach, especially with a virtual stranger, but she felt it necessary. 

"I do not know where things stand between Isabella and the three of you gentlemen.  I can tell that your relationship has changed recently, but I also can tell that you still care for her a great deal.  That said, if I am crossing a line here, please  do not hesitate to tell me so.  However, if you are willing to speak with me about the matter, I would very much like to offer you some insight into what she is going through and share with you some of the things I learned when I went through a similar experience.  While Isabella and I are very different people, I also know what it is like to have your heart pulled in multiple directions."

William stopped walking. He knew he'd never been the most subtle in matters of the heart, but hearing the words come out of the Godmother's mouth gave him pause. Changed? Yes, he supposed that was about as accurate a description as could be placed on it. Endings are a very big change.

"I appreciate this gesture and recognize that you have plenty of reasons to be concerned, both as her mother and as a Godmother in this thing of ours. I had not originally planned for things to move as quickly as they had been, as I expressed in my letter."

How long had it been? Two weeks? Three? Everything had changed so much in that time that it might as well have been a different lifetime.

"But life has a way of blindsiding us. I would be honored to hear your insights, Godmother, in regards to any matter  for which you would offer them. However, I fear that I'm not sure if it will make a difference in regards to your daughter. I've.." Failed? Lost her? Found the one man I can't live up to? Watched her walk out of my life? "Had to make a difficult and painful decision of late. I'm not sure if I will have another chance to put any insights to use even though I do still care a great deal and would like nothing more than to do so. All the same I would hear the insights you have to offer."

He was hesitant but a part of William was eager for someone to talk to about this. The fact that it was Isabella's mother who had breached the topic was a shock, but if she meant her words then he owed her honesty out of respect for the woman who had shown him kindness even as her husband showed him pain.

Marie turned to face William.  So Isabella had ended things with William and had done so rather quickly.  Interesting. 

"I do not know how much of my life you have any knowledge about, but Lucky is my second husband... and the third man that I have had romantic feeling towards.  I will give you the Reader's Digest version of the story."

The Godmother slipped her arm through the loop handle of her purse and clasped her hands together at her mid-section, "After my first husband died, I found comfort for a time in the arms of Lucky.  Luca had found him and got him set up in our family racks out in LA.  Next to me, he knew my husband more than anyone else had.  Our relationship started off platonic, but grew more intimate as time went on.  When I discovered that I was starting to have feelings for him, I pushed him away by sending him to Italy.  I felt that to allow myself to have those romantic feeling for him so soon after losing my husband was a betrayal of his the memory.   While he was in Italy he was gravely injured and I was lead to believe that he had been killed.  I was grief stricken again, and wracked with guilt about pushing him away."  

"Almost immediately the Godfather of LA made it known to me that he was interested in pursing a relationship with me.  I was a young don who was feeling very alone and very vulnerable with enemies lurking behind every turn." 

Marie smiled a bit and chose to give him a bit of back story, "I was raised in the old country where it is quite common for marriages to be arranged for a multitude of reasons.  I was no fool.  I knew the protection he could afford me and my crew.  Women have instinctively known for centuries that our bodies are every bit a resource that money, guns, and drugs are.  It was a small price to pay to ensure my family's safety and I am willing to do anything to protect my family --wither that is my crew, my city, or this thing I have managed to build in this country."

Sighing a bit, Marie glanced down at the ground remember back on that time in her life.  It seemed so long ago.  "Arranged marriages need not be loveless relationships, so I opened myself up to him.  Our relationship grew and on the eve of the night that I planned to consummate things... Lucky showed back up in my life."  Marie looked back up at William, "Alive and breathing, though obviously still recovering from the shot that had almost killed him."

Not being one accustomed to just standing, Marie turned and began walking again.  "Before I could even over come the shock at seeing him alive he was confessing his unending love for me.  It seemed that in his near death experience he had discovered his feelings towards me and he did not want another moment to go by without telling me." 

The Godmother looked forward, watching a newspaper get blown across the parking lot ahead of them.  "So there I was.  In love with two men, dealing with my own emotional demons, and duty bound to a crew that looked to me to secure their protection."

Marie allowed a silence to fall between them.  She wanted to know if there were specific questions that the young man might have that she could speak wisdom too.  If he did not, than she would continue on.

William was utterly blown away with the openness of the Godmother. That she would choose to share such personal matters showed a great deal of trust and respect and for a moment he was struck silent as he contemplated all that she had laid bare. A great deal seemed familiar from his own experiences and those he knew of Isabella, however everything was all jumbled up. He played the role of the safe, protected option while Gavin represented passion brought to the fore by a near death experience. Elias was the love thought dead but returned from the grave and now no longer a part of this. None involved a slow, gradual building of ties.

"I'm honored by your choice to share all this with me Godmother. It sounds as though you've been through a great deal in pursuit of love. Your daughter seems to have taken after you in a great many ways I'm afraid. Gavin and I haven't necessarily made this easy, either for ourselves or her. That much I admit freely."

The similarities were eerie, but there hadn't been a conclusion to Marie's story. Obviously she had ended up with Salvatore, but how? Perhaps if he could learn that it would show him a path to walk for the time being.

"Something is missing from the story. How did you end up with Godfather Luciano? You said yourself that you would do anything to protect your own and at the time you felt like the Godfather of Los Angeles was the one who could do that. How did you come to decide?"

A moment more consideration and William realized that one more question lingered in his mind. One for which Marie might be the only person with an answer.

"Was there anything the two men could have done to help you find your way? Anything they could have done to ease your pain from choosing?"

Marie genuinely smiled, "Some very wise questions."  She stopped once more to turn and face him.  

"Looking back on it all, Lucky did the very best thing for me that he could.  He game me space and time to discover things on my own.  That said, it nearly costed him everything.  It would have costed him everything had fate not intervened."  Marie knew that her answer would be confusing with out more context.  

"I explored my feelings openly and honestly with both men and while Lucky was at the obvious disadvantage he never gave up.  He made sure that he was never far from my mind, but he never pushed."  Marie chuckled a bit, "In fact there was a time when he took me to Cuba on some family business that I distinctly remember being infuriated with him at his lack of pressing.  It was a new experience with me to be the one driving a relationship."  She laughed and shook her head.  "Forgive me for getting off topic somewhat..."

She drew a breath and continued, "I came to realize that I loved Lucky when he was once again nearly killed while protecting me.  He was my RHM and it was his job to do exactly what he did."  Marie looked down still somewhat ashamed of what she did back then.  "I was afraid.  I realized that I was afraid of losing someone that I loved for a second time.  I did not want to put myself back into that position to be hurt like that again so I pushed him away for a second time.  I told him that we could not be together because I knew he would always choose to put his life on the line to save me.  I ended things with him and I choose Roman.  I chose the man I thought could protect my crew and my heart with his vast power and position."  The godmother looked back up with glistening eyes, "I was such a fool."

"Lucky continued to stand by me, though it nearly killed him, and a week later the great war broke out.  Roman was the first man to go down.  All of his power and his position had not protected him at all.  I discovered that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow and that I had a choice to make.  I could either live life in fear of losing those closest to me... which would not be living at all... or I could instead choice to live life to the fullest each day and be grateful for the time I did have.  I chose the latter.  With some time, Lucky and I managed to work things out between us and the rest is history."

So much similar again and yet so mixed up. William began to wonder if Isabella had merely skipped the safe route and gone straight to following her heart. The thought threatened to raise up the same ache that had taken her place when she walked out of his office. An ache that even now hadn't completely faded. He decided instead to focus on Salvatore's choice. One he was intimately familiar with. Marie's story had given an ounce of hope amid a pound of fear and that bit would have to be enough. He couldn't help but feel like he should be more open about his own situation. He owed that much for the trust Marie had showed him already.

"I find myself sympathizing with your husband, though I'd be hesitant to admit it to him. I rushed things when I saw how everything was progressing and I told her I loved her. I...made a similar decision to Salvatore when faced with Isabella's response. She told me she didn't want to hurt me by keeping me close and letting me build up my hopes while she tried to work things out with Gavin, but at the same time she said something that made me wonder if she was hiding from what she felt for me. I told her I'd respect her choice, but I also told her what I'd heard in her words and that I'd wait for her. The more I see Gavin though, the more I wonder if fate is going to be as kind to me as it was to Salvatore."

He shook his head and looked to the ground, not able to meet the Godmother's emotional eyes with his own lest he begin to let cracks appear in what little facade of strength he had remaining to him. His voice fell to a whisper

"I appreciate everything you've told me. It's obviously not an easy thing to share, but I think it is helping." He couldn't bear this. How could she trust him with all of this? He wasn't even a significant part of her daughter's life now. No matter how much his heart might still fight it and how much he refused to let himself say it out loud he still had to face it for the time being. He looked back to Marie and his worry and pain was written clearly in the lines of his face.

"I have one more question. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but why are you opening up and telling me all this? We barely know each other and I feel like you're pouring out your heart. What makes you think I deserve to know all this?"

"As with many decisions we make in this thing of ours, they are usually made for a variety of reasons. For one, it was the letter you sent me.  It spoke well of your character and I found that it made me want to get to know you more. Second, you are a raising power in Philly and are very well liked by Don Mezzo.  It never hurts to build bridges with such a man.  However, in truth, the main reason is Isabella.  My hope is that in telling you these things it might some how make things easier on her.  I am not sure how, but it is my hope nonetheless."

She'd made herself vulnerable to protect those she loved. That was as good a vouch of Marie's character as any William could think of. He briefly worked up the courage to compose himself and bow his head to the woman before him. She was not the Godmother of his city, but as far as he was concerned she'd earned every bit of his respect today and he intended to show it.

"I understand. Thank you for this gift, Godmother Lucania. I will endeavor to use it to the best of my abilities, for both your sake and your daughter's. I know that I've let my own pain cause difficulty for Isabella and I apologize for that. I will offer my apologies to her as well if such an opportunity arises. I won't lie and promise that I won't worry her at times. As she once told me we can't always predict the paths our hearts choose to take. I can promise that I will still be there if she faces trouble. Her heart may be with another, but I will not stop caring for her and wishing the best for her."

William took a deep, shuddering breath and pushed a smile to his face. He still wasn't sure if all the Godmother had said would give him hope or comfort in the end, but either was better than what he'd had.

"Some day I'd like to repay your kindness. If there is anything you'd like to know about me, or anything I can do then do not hesitate to ask."

Marie gave his offer a respectful nod of acceptance.  Again he showed his understanding of the subtle nature of politics.  Too many used politics like a hammer in which ever issues was a nail in need of a good pounding.  It was the ones that understood politics as an art form -- with its variations of hues -- that you had to cautiously respect. 

She found herself liking this lad and knew he would go far in this thing of theirs.  "I will keep that in mind.  Likewise, should their come a time when I can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to call on me.  Also, I would very much like to offer you hospitality the next time you are in Chicago.  I would very much like to get to know you better."

William had the sneaking suspicion that as much as Marie had opened herself and helped him, she had helped herself as well. Strength through kindness. It behooved someone of her position well, even if it wasn't what was expected. In this way she was a perfect foil to her husband.

"It's been a while since I've found myself in Chicago. I think it might be time to visit and see how the place has changed since last time."

His smile became a bit more authentic at Marie's offer to him. It was a good relationship to build, both personally and professionally.

"I'll make sure to look you up when I end up in town. The offer is open in Philadelphia as well, though I suppose I have little to offer which Godfather Spaceman and the others would not already provide."

William bowed his head respectfully once more, not sure what else he could say that remained unsaid. He'd been given food for thought that he'd be chewing over for days to come.

"I think I've taken enough of your time, unless of course you have any further needs of me. If not, I ask to take my leave and see to a great many things I need to make right."

Marie smiled and nodded.  "Of course.  Thank you for the conversation.  Have a wonderful evening Don Bowden."

Marie turned and walked towards her black sedan.  Rand, who had been a respectful distance away, quickly joined her and the two conversed quietly.  Within moments the bodyguard had his charge inside the car and the car speeding away.