Isabella walked with Gavin out of Purgatory, shadowed by Patches.  "If you liked the tattoo, then you're really in for it tonight because... I have a few more surprises for you."  She said with a bright smile.  Coming around behind him, Isabella reached up carefully and covered his eyes.  Gavin could hear a car approach and then come to stop.  

"Are you ready?"  She asked.  "1, 2, ... 3!"

She uncovered Gavin's eyes and revealed the very same Duesenburg Model SJ that he'd given her to drive in Montreal - the one they'd nearly hit a moose with!  Linval got out of the driver's spot and brought her the keys.   "Before Somny left for LA he had it fixed up for me.  I'd been meaning to show it to you for a while now, but we never got back to Detroit together ... so I drove it out here for us to enjoy!"  

She offered the keys to Gavin.  "Unless you'd like me to drive this time, I'll just give you directions to my second surprise.  It's about twenty minutes from here."

As Gavin took the keys, she instructed, "Go north on Christopher Columbus Boulevard until I say otherwise."  She opened the passenger side door and got inside.  Linval and Patches were already getting into a much more subtle car and preparing to follow behind them.  

Gavin, still sore from the fight, purged all memories of his battle with Will from his mind to focus entirely on the woman in front of him. As she uncovered his eyes, he flashed a rare, authentic smile that filled his whole face. Normally, he only moved the corner of his mouth, but this time he couldn't help himself.

"Shit. Between this and the tattoo, you're really pushing hard here. Need a loan?"

Laughing, he opened her door for her. She had no idea what she was walking into tonight. A few days before, Gavin had spent most of a morning with @Salvatore_Luciano, hammering out details of a matter that was both personal and business. Bella had made her choice. He'd made his. It was time to live with it fully. Asking for the blessing of Godfather Luciano to marry his daughter would have always been an intense conversation. But asking for his permission to have her move to Philadelphia? That was another matter entirely. It had cost him everything he had- and a large amount of Tara's bank account too- but he'd gathered the hundred million dollars as promised. Dons, as a rule, never transferred cities- but this was a special case, and would perhaps be the only time it happened. Still, it was worth it. Even after the transfer was complete, Sal had insisted on seeing the ring for himself. Finally, the agreement had been struck. 

Asking Bella would be the easy part. He closed her door and walked around to sink into the drivers seat, enjoying the roar of the engine as he followed her directions, leaving the bodyguards' car in the dust. 

Isabella rolled down the window a bit and let some air into the car.  She looked at Gavin and spoke, "No.  I don't need a loan... though my final surprise of the night did set me back a little.  However, I think you'll find that it's worth every penny."  She pointed at an upcoming corner.

"Turn onto Noble and then Front, it's a quick couple of turns so..."  She grabbed onto the door and laughed as Gavin took the first corner sharply.  "It's different being the passenger!  Thank God there are no moose in Philly... okay so go onto Germantown Avenue and when we get to it... head up to fifth street."  

She reached over and put a hand on his thigh.  "You know, I could get used to late night drives together.  Sometimes when I can't sleep it's what I do... jump in the car and just drive with the windows down as fast as I dare.  Helps clear my head."  She says and leans her head back on the seat letting the wind pass by her face, seeming to do exactly what she said she likes to do when driving at night.   

For a time she's quiet, and then she turns her face towards him again, "Did you have a good week?"

"Sometimes when I can't sleep I... well, you know."

Gavin smirked.

"It was a busy week. Lots of business. Glad the fight is over, honestly. I thought I'd care more about who won, but I'm mostly just glad to move on to bigger and better things."

He leaned on the break as they hit a red light, and the car seemed to protest its lack of motion. Gavin glanced over, the interior of the car illuminated by the streetlight above them.

"Hey... show me your back again... didn't really have time to appreciate that before..."

He smiled, tapping his fingers on the wheel, as the box in his left jacket pocket threatened to burn a hole through the fabric.

Isabella smirked and turned obediently.  "I was so scared."  She admitted.  "Scared it would hurt... scared they'd mess up and I'd be stuck with something that looked terrible for the rest of my life.  The pain was pretty much what I expected but it looks far better than I feared.  The man was really an artist."

"You'll have to kiss it all over later to help with the soreness.  Its still healing, it won't be so irritated in time I'm told.  But it's better than it had been.  In the beginning, he looked like a red wolf!"  She laughed and turned back to face forward as the light turned green.

"Oh wait... yea, nearly forgot it's actually left onto Oxford and THEN right onto fifth.  God you'd think I'd have this down after a week of driving back and forth."  She let it slip.  Isabella sighed.  "So... I have to confess, I've been in Philly all week.  I only went home for two days.  Just long enough to take care of some matters and then head back and I WISH I could have told you but when you see my surprise I think you're going to forgive me."

As he turned onto Fifth street she pointed ahead at a building they were fast approaching, "Just up there.  Stop by the curb."  She said pointing at the Sewing Factory Loft Apartments Building .  The building was full block in size.  It use to be a sewing factory in the 1800s but it had been renovated and repurposed.  

As the car came to a stop she hopped out and motioned to the building.  "TA-DA!"  She said in a cheery voice. 

From the main entrance a doorman, a large man called out, "Good Evening Ms. Luciano!"

"Evening Pete!  Give us a moment will ya!"

"My pleasure, Ma'am!"  The doorman went back to his post.

"So... my second business in Philly.  I own a building!  What do you think!?!"

Gavin leaned against the car as he glanced up at the building with his arms crossed. 

"Well, certainly seems impressive. What the hell is in there?"

"So she's a converted factory with the most incredible views of Philadelphia.  Fifty-Two individual one, two, and three bedroom apartments with brick walls and high ceilings done in ceramic tiles.  Their some of the prettiest places you've ever seen.  Come on."  She takes him by the hand and pulls him towards the door.  "I have one set up.  I'll show you just how amazing they can be."

Pete opened the door and bowed as he did, "How'd we do tonight?" He asked Isabella.  She paused and replied, "I'll have your winnings in just a bit."

"Hot Dog!"  He laughed.  "Thanks for the tip, Ms. Luciano."  He nodded to Gavin,   "Welcome to the Sewing Factory Mr. Byrne."  He says, brightly, clearly having been given Gavin's name earlier at some point.  

Isabella takes Gavin into a large lobby and sitting room and to a massive elevator.  Hitting the up button she is all but bouncing.  "The rent is probably more than most people in these times can afford... and on some level I do feel bad about that, but I can't bring myself to underprice these places.  The minute I saw them I knew I had to own this whole damn thing so... I broke out my checkbook and I took a breath, and just did it.  I mean, you only live once, right?  I figured, what the fuck - it's just money and if I can't spend my money in a way that makes me happy then what the hell is the point?!?"

She stepped into the elevator and pulled a key out of her purse.  Looking a control panel of buttons indicating floors, she put a key into a lock next to the words 'Top Floor'.  She turned the key and the elevator began to move.  She smiled at Gavin and stole a playful kiss from his cheek before the elevator finally stopped and opened into a wide open apartment.

The apartment had no real walls.  The living room melded into the kitchen , into a dining space, into a bathroom which did have some privacy at least.  Some.  The bedroom even was out in the open.  The windows went floor to ceiling - two stories in one single room giving a feeling of being outside.  In the daytime the place would be flooded with natural light and at night the city looked like a bed of stars below them and the sky a blanket of stars above.

For as incredible as the room was - filled with furnishings, it was the smaller details that might catch Gavin by surprise.  This wasn't a place meant to show potential tenants... it was full of Isabella's things.  All of them.  This was her Port Huron home's contents!  And... a moose head on the wall?

All her trinkets, photos, and personal belongings decorate the space - the room even smelled of her if that was possible in such a short time.  Incredibly it was as if she'd uprooted that small part of her personal life and brought it to Philly.  Her 'real home' that she kept from everyone had been transplanted!

Gavin whistled as the door opened into the apartment. He wasn't surprised, not really. Bella could move mountains when she'd set her mind to it, especially when it came to business. And while the Dockside Inn provided a place for people to stay on the Pier, it couldn't handle more than a handful of guests at any given time. 

"This is... about a million times better than my place. I think I'll be moving..."

He moved to the window, although it seemed strange to call them that, when they took up so much of the wall. He looked out at the stars. 

"... just like it seemed you moved."

His face darkened for a moment and, while he didn't lose his temper, his sincere frustration was evident. Gavin knew the Godfather may not particularly care for him, but he'd hoped he'd had the man's respect. And now...?

"Gods damn it! He told me I could tell you about the transfer..."

Gavin halted abruptly. Surely the Godfather wouldn't have told her about...

"Wait a minute... how much did he tell you?"

Isabella blinked.  Transfer?  He?   "How much did who tell me about what?  Gavin are you on about?"  she crossed her arms in front of her.  This wasn't at all what she'd expected!

"I thought you'd be happy that I brought my home to Philly... I mean... hotels are nice, but if half my time is going to be spent here I'd like it to be with my own things.  And... well, shit I explained it to you.  This is my HOME.  Away from all the shit.  I thought it would make you happy that my home was near you."

Gavin stared at Bella for several moments before he sighed. 

"Well... shit. Come here."

Gavin walked her over the giant windows that looked over the city. The stars and the city lights seemed like they were in a contest to outshine the other, and Gavin simply looked for a long time in silence, trying to find the words.

"I know you love Detroit. Your crew. Your father. You'd die for them. But I know you've also been talking about... stress. The grind. And I know it was a hard choice for you to request stepping down from your position. Closing up the tower, burning the journals..."

He paused.

"I also know you've been wishing for a fresh start. And I know you appreciate Race Street; you've already got a business- no, businesses- here. So I talked to your father. Once I met his conditions, he agreed that you can transfer to Philadelphia. So if it's what you want... this can really be your home."

Her mouth hung slack, she blinked more than was needed.  She shook her head and her mouth worked wordlessly.  She sighed.  "Gavin... I mean, this is... perfect."  She said her face finally settling upon a small smile, but confusion kept making conflict with her joy on her face. 

"I can't believe you managed to do this... I... I mean, he didn't like that I'd even asked.  He was angry, really fucking angry."  She turned to face him.  "How the hell did you make this happen?  I mean short of promising to marry me I can't imagine a damn thing you could have done to make him even soften to the idea!"

Gavin arched an eyebrow. 

"I'm sure you can imagine a couple things. For the record, this is definitely what I want. There's no snipers over there or a bomb strapped to me or anything."

He paused, then sank down to one knee and removed the ring. As he lowered himself, he thought of all the times that he'd shared with Bella. Montreal. Chicago. Here in Philly. Not to mention Jamaica. And a dozen others. Particularly, he thought of the first time his entire world had been knocked off its axis; he'd had no idea at the time that he'd only find his balance again with the person who'd upset it in the first place. Gavin had cared for a few women in his life, but the universe had seemed to want him and Bella to be together. For whatever reason, whether it was destiny or blind chance, they'd found each other, and grown with each other, at the perfect time. He opened the box to reveal the ring: the band was white-gold, reinforced with platinum, and the diamond was large, though not garishly so, and its sparkling clarity was even more impressive than its size. It was, simply, one of the most beautiful diamonds even the wealthy would ever see, cut from one of the Jonker diamonds that had been stolen, perhaps not coincidentally, from Philadelphia some time before.

 His blue eyes looked steadily up at Bella, unblinking. They were different enough to force each other to grow, and similar enough that some understandings passed the needs for words. This was one of them- but he said the words anyway.

"I love you."

When he made his cracks about being threatened and dropped to a knee, she honestly thought he was continuing with a really bad joke.  This was DEFINITELY not something she wanted to be jerked around about!  Then she saw the box... and the ring.  Her mouth came open again and she put her hands over it to stop the stream of incoherent things that muddled together in the forefront of her mind from pouring out.

She felt like she was falling as if she'd been standing with her knees locked for too long.  He looked up at her with those beautiful eyes, as clear as the waters they so often found themselves besides, uttering words she didn't know if Gavin would ever be ready to say.  Not the question - lord he didn't need to say that - but, that he loved her?

She came down onto her knees in front of him.  Eye to eye.  Equals.  Taking his face between her hands and kissing him passionately,  "Yes."  she breathed an answer to an unspoken question, between tear soaked kisses and smiles that she couldn't contain.  Pure joy filled her to bursting, a thousand happy memories they shared flittering through her mind, & somewhere distantly the thought that her father ... that sweet, lovable, perfect asshole of a father ... had made this possible.