Sal set the food up in front of Aurora. She was a smart cookie way smarter than he. Then he turned to the his bodyguard.

"So you decided that keeping Gavin from his daughter was a good idea... Why?" Sal said very irritabley

Sal headed to the door and opened it stepping outside. 

"Gavin she is safe and eating. Did you talk to Bella she is on her way as well? When you see Aurora understand she thought you lied about me to her when she found some letter I wrote to Bella and that is why she did what she did. Go easy on the poor kid." He says signalling for him to go inside.

when Gavin was about to enter Sal said to him. "I have to go deal with someone who tried to hurt her. But I was waiting for you or Bella to arrive. I won't stop you from leaving but I ask if you could wait till Bella gets here and I get back." He says before hopping in a car with his

guys not waiting for an answer

Gavin watched Salvatore go before walking into the house. 

When he entered he immediately saw Aurora sitting on a large chair eating her burger and fries.  When she looked up to see him, she hesitated.  She'd never done anything this bad before.  How angry would he be with her?  Would he - ???

Her fears cut short as Gavin crossed the living room and dropped to his knees, putting his arms around Aurora, pulling her tight to him. 

She didn't hesitate to drop her burger and return the hug.  

"You okay, Squirt?"

Aurora began to cry. 

"I'm so sorry, Dad.  I'm sorry."

Gavin sighed and held her for a while, stroking her hair.  The little girl never realizing it was as a much a comfort for himself as it was for her.  Gavin had seen a lot of bad things in his life, done a lot of bad things, but nothing had scared him as much as the thought of Aurora crossing the country all alone.  
 

+++

Isabella got into the car that was waiting for her, greeting her father's men politely.  Gavin had gotten ahold of the airport and they sent a message to Bella's pilot telling her that Gavin was with their daughter now and they'd be waiting for her at Salvatore's home.  Everything was okay. 

Only... Bella couldn't really accept that.  Of course, she was physically fine, but Aurora had left home and run to Salvatore.  Had her father told her how it was he was alive and Marie wasn't?  What effect did that have on her daughter?  What effect would it have on her and Gavin's relationship with her?  Aurora was so much like Gavin, could she forgive them for not telling her sooner that her father was alive?  Would she understand the need to keep the truth of Marie's death under wraps all these years?

Maybe Salvatore hadn't told her anything.  The man wasn't known for his heart to hearts and emotional openings... she'd literally chipped away at her father and plied him with alcohol to get him to open up to her as a peer.  She could count the number of father/daughter moments they'd had on one hand.  Salvatore, the asshole, wasn't exactly known for his kid gloves in dealing with emotionally sensitive situations.  She could only imagine the absolute dumpster fire he might have created out of Aurora's life.  Years of working to prepare her for the truth might well have been tossed aside in a few moments of poorly chosen conversation.  

Bella tried not to get worked up.  She didn't want to yell at her father today.  She wanted to put her arms around her little girl, thank the Gods she was okay, promise the old man he could see the girl again soon and be on their way.  Which was why she frowned deeply when the car pulled up to a bar instead of a house.

"Where the hell are we?"  She asked the driver, her hand on her gun.

"Boss isn't at his house.  He's taking care of some business here.  Our orders were to bring you to him... didn't get any instructions otherwise so... here we are."

Bella sighed.

"Fine."  She said getting out before the men could open the door for her.

"He's in the basement."  Bella rolled her eyes wondering what Salvatore could POSSIBLY be 'working' on (or who) when his daughter had just crossed the damn country to meet him!

She pushed the door open and stepped inside, cast her eyes around for a moment and noted a door without a label.  A solid looking door.  She knew that had to be it.  Bella opened the door and instantly the smell of piss hit her.  Someone down there was VERY afraid.  She didn't know if she really wanted to see this or if it was any of her business what the fuck her father was doing and to whom.

"Dad?"  She called down from the top of the stairs.  "You down there?"

Sal stood with his suit jacket off, sleeves rolled up and his hands covered in blood. He turned and picked up a hammer and slammed it with great force into a young man's hand that was strapped down in front of him. The other man was strung up like a punching bag from the ceiling. 

"How fucking dare you put your hands on MY DAUGHTER," he said before smashing the man's other hand. 

Sal heard the door open and Bella's voice calls down. 

"I am down here," he said before turning back to the men. 

"That is her mother now... and she has anger that can rival my own. But she would just kill you where you stood... and I am not done with you yet," he says before turning away and heading over to meet his daughter. 

Bella came down the stairs to see two young men trussed up for the slow ride to hell.  She'd tortured men before, but it had been a few years since the last time that she had a damn good reason to do so.  Jace Corso was the last man she'd tortured anyone for... the men who had hunted him down and attacked her in the alleyway on Race Street Pier wouldn't give over the name of their employer.  She'd loosened their tongues and then, never telling anyone she'd done so, emptied the contents of her stomach in Dante's bathroom a short while later.  

God, that was before Jack and Will died & Race Street burned ... it seems a lifetime ago!

She averted her eyes from her father's handy work, instead choosing to look at his face, ignoring his blood covered hands.  "Thanks for sending the car.  You doing alright?"  She asked him. 

It seemed an odd question to ask after the days of fear she had for Aurora. Salvatore had never been in any danger, and yet at this moment knowing Gavin had Aurora safe and sound, she couldn't help but wonder if his attention on these boys might be less about extracting information as ghoulish overkill brought on by his own emotional and mental state.  Maybe the two teens deserved death.  That was possible.  She had no idea what they'd done... but it was just as likely Salvatore was indulging his darker urges because of his own demons and not theirs.

"It has been a hell of a day. I wanted you to come to see me first because Gavin has her and there are some things you need to know," he said taking a towel and wiping his hands off 

"She came cause she found the letter I sent you about your son being born. She thought you lied to her about me and stole her from Marie and I. I corrected her on that and she knows everything now," he says to her. 

Sal lights a cigarette taking a long drag

"Sorry for this but these are the two fuck sticks that thought trying to rob a seven-year-old little girl was a good idea... On top of that a Luciano. They and everyone will know the error of that when I am done." he says to her. 

Bella, hearing they had tried to rob Aurora, looked at the men for the first time.  She could see the fear on their faces, the absolute horror, and the pain they were in.  Maybe it was her hormones talking but she found herself putting a hand on her father's arm,

"They're just boys." she said quietly.  "Not much older than her really... dumb asses.  Your time and talents are better spent elsewhere."

With that, she dropped her hand from his arm and the subject.  She knew better than to think these boys would ever see their mothers again, and that was a dark thought she didn't want to dwell on too long considering what might have happened to Aurora.  She just hoped her father would end it, and soon.

"As for the other part..."  She arched an eyebrow reaching for his cigarette.  She didn't smoke often, but the smoke helped with the smell of the blood and urine and covered the iron tang on the back of her tongue.  Taking a drag from her father's smoke she savored the alien burn she so rarely indulged in, having to clear her throat after.

"I guess I've been tired with the baby and all... I must not have hidden away the letter.  I'll never finish kicking myself over that boneheaded move.  She's not a baby anymore.  Gavin and I have given her so many tools and information, trying to prepare her for the worst ... I guess I never thought for a moment she might decide to use those resources for her own adventures."

She sighed.

"I'm afraid we've created something of a monster if we can't get her to understand what might have happened to her here.  She's incredible... Dad's she's a skilled fighter, so smart, she can clearly navigate cross-country I mean... who could at seven?  I... I couldn't have.  I mean, I started getting into shit around 13 but she's almost half that age.  Maybe... maybe we were too free with the lessons.  I don't know.  We just didn't want her caught without the ability to protect herself if the worst happened."

Bella leaned against a table of Sal's implements as casually as if she were sitting in a malt shop.  "I spend a lot of time thinking about the day our luck runs out and what will happen to the kids.  It's a dark fucked up world we live in... I just, want them to have a future.  Something better and live safe and long enough to enjoy it."

Sal heard his daughters words about the boys. His mind wandered and he realized that what he was doing was not to teach a lesson but vent out anger he held within... Anger at himself. 

Sal turned and pulled his gun putting a bullet in both boys heads ending their suffering. He nodded his head to his men and they started grabbing garbage bags to clean up the mess. 

With that Sal holstered his gun and turned back to his daughter. 

"She knows the danger she was in. While she showed no fear in fighting them off I could see it on her face. You have raised her well. But when I said she knows everything I mean Everything. She knows what happened to Marie and by whom." he said taking a drag off his cigarette

"Now before you fly off the handle understand I tried to steer her away. Give her enough information to satisify her curiousity. But it wasnt enough. She took it better than I ever would have thought. She wasn't upset as far as I could tell."

Bella merely nodded when her father put the boys out of their suffering.  She gave no commentary other than that, what was done was done. 

As her father clarified what he meant by having told Aurora 'everything' Bella's shoulders sank.  Anger.  Annoyance.  Fear all rose up in her and the only reason she didn't fly off the handle was that her own sins this week (her failure to keep Aurora safe and sound) still held dominance in her own mind. 

"You had just a few hours with her... you could have told her anything else in that time!  You could have talked about how you and Marie met, or our family history and instead you end up going right to ..."

She snapped her mouth shut so loud her teeth clicked.  She sighed.

"I need a drink."  With that, she stomped up the stairs to the bar and broke out a bottle of whiskey.  She hadn't had a drop of alcohol in months.  Not since she found out she was pregnant and now with her breastfeeding a baby she knew she shouldn't... but she had to have something to calm her nerves that had been ragged for days.

When her dad appeared at the top of the stairs she poured him a glass as well an pushed it in his direction.

"Why do you think she wasn't upset?  What was her reaction?"

Sal walked up the stairs and took the drink and sipped from it. He took a moment before he answered. 

"Because she calm she wanted to know why... That I didn't go into but told her Marie loved her. You and she had told me that you don't lie to her. So I didn't lie to her. She thought the man who killed Marie was dead. I corrected her and then her little mind could not process how that was. So I told her it was me."

"She was calm and to be honest I think it has to do with not knowing Marie personally she was too little to remember her. So there was not a big connection. But to know for sure you need to talk to her about it." Sal said before finishing his drink and pouring himself another. 

"You ready to go see her? My guys will take you. I am going to go clean up before heading back there. I don't need her seeing me like this." he said before finishing another drink. 

Bella tried to think of Aurora and the changes in the girl after these revelations.  It was a struggle though, she didn't know what this would do to her little girl.  For so long every single thing that had crossed their paths she'd known how her daughter would handle it.  Today, for the first time, she couldn't say for sure.

She put down her drink. 

"You ever have a moment in life when you're just standing there... and, nothing feels real?  Like, maybe you're dreaming or you've died some time ago, and everything you're saying and doing now is just your mind not wanting to let go of the life you once lived?"  

She looked up from her drink to meet Sal's eyes.

"Almost everyone we've ever known or loved is dead and gone.  Do you ever think about that?" 

She pauses. 

"I don't know if Aurora's okay or not.  If she's not okay... I'm not sure I know how to make her better.  I've lost so many people that sometimes it all just blurs together.  So much death... so much god damned blood and it stopped feeling right so long ago I don't remember how I'm supposed to feel anymore."

She shook her head, "Nothing like it was after that first war, flying home with you on the plane."

She drew a breath, "The one thing in my life that's right, is my family.  I just don't want to fuck it up so badly that one day I wake up and feel like it's not real anymore either."

She pushed away from the bar, not expecting her father to have anything to say on her random, deep if depressing thoughts.

"You can tell your guys I'm ready to go when they are."

Sal stood there thinking about what Bella was saying. 

"I feel that way every day since that night," he said leaving it at that. 

Sal motioned for his guys who went and got the car. Sal turned to Bella. " You have done well with her. I know you will figure it out and she will be fine when this is over. As you know she is smart, too smart, so I would keep that in mind. I will see you if you are still there shortly. If not I understand."

Sal turned and headed upstairs to jump in the shower and change. 

Bella walked into the house and threw her arms wide for Aurora who came running to her.  "MOM!"

Gavin stood by silently smiling.  

"Do you have ANY idea how scared I was!"  She said to the little girl as she held her so tight she threatened to pop her.

"We've been talking about that... I'm sorry mom."  She said into her mother's hair.

"You can never do that to me again Aurora.  Running off leaving me to think you've been taken or worse..."

"I promise mom."  

She pulled back and looked the girl in the eyes, "Da... Salvatore tells me that he talked to you about Marie?"

Aurora nodded.

"We were talking about that too."  Gavin added.

"Do you want to go?  We don't have to stay here and wait for him to come back.  I've got the plane ready to go.  All three of us can get on and be home in just a few hours.  We can forget all about this mess.  Salvatore will understand."  Bella offered.

Aurora shook her head.  "No.  We should stay for a little bit and say goodbye.  He's sad."

Bella sighed.  "He's sad because of his own choices.  He knows that."

Aurora shrugged.  "Yeah.  But us staying isn't about who he is.  It's about who we are.  He's family.  We don't turn our back on family even,"  She looked to Gavin and smiled.  "Even when they make mistakes."

Gavin gave the barest hint of a nod.

Bella looked up to meet Gavin's gaze.  A moment passed between them, no words, only that sort of conversation they sometimes had that didn't require them.  Two people who knew each other so well, they knew what the other was probably thinking and the fight always felt pointless.  Bella relented.

"Fine.  We'll stay and have dinner."  She glanced at the burger on the floor with two bites out of it.  "Though it looks like someone started on theirs and lost it?"

"I dropped it to hug, Dad." Aurora smirked.

Bella sighed.  "Well, let's see what the old man has in the kitchen."  She walked through the rooms and found the kitchen, pulled open the fridge to see boxes of take-out, spoiled milk, and a small treasure trove of beers which she presumed were for his friends or the bodyguards when they were off duty.

Bella arched an eyebrow high.  "What the..."  She shook her head.  "Well, I guess you're gonna run out for some things."

Bella sent Gavin to the nearby store and he came back with two bags of groceries.  The three of them began making a dinner together, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans with an apple pie for dessert.  The three talked a bit about Marie and Salvatore and some of the happier memories that Bella and Gavin had of each of them and slowly the meal took shape and found its way into the oven.

By the time Salvatore got home his kitchen was cleaned, the spoiled food was thrown out, and the scent of a home cooked dinner filled ever corner of the house.  The Byrnes were in the kitchen.  Bella was sipping a glass of wine, Gavin was drinking some water, and Aurora had a large glass of milk.  

Aurora smiled at Salvatore when he appeared in the doorway.  "Hope you're hungry!"

Sal could smell the food before he hit the door. It smelled great but he wondered where they got the food from he knew there was not anything in the house. 

He walked into the house and saw Aurora and he smiled. 

"I am starving today I have worked up an appetite today," he said looking at Bella and Gavin. 

"So where did you guys get the food from. I don't even want to know what was in the fridge," he said with a disgusted look on his face. 

"So you guys decided to stay and make dinner. I think I should have treated you guys to dinner. 

"I sent Gavin to the shop we passed a few blocks down.  It's not a big deal."  She said, opening the oven to check on the meatloaf.  "I thought about going out, but I figured you wouldn't mind if I took a few minutes to wipe out the living creatures in the bottom of your fridge."

She chuckled.

Gavin handed a small pile of plates to Aurora so she could set the table.  

"Besides," Bella continued, "How often did we EVER have a real family dinner?"

She began pulling things from the stove.

"Will you come visit us in Philly?"  Aurora asked Salvatore.  "You gotta meet, William."

"Well, it been over 7 years since I had a real dinner," he says thinking back. 

Sal headed and helped Aurora set the table, surprised he had enough dishes for them all, and then sat down. 

"Well it smells delicious," he says 

"So Aurora did you help make the dinner?" he asks her. 

Dinner wasn't a long affair.  There was a lot yet to be decided and sorted through, but there were a few good moments of laughs and genuine efforts to get to know each other.  Bella thought of it as successful, if still odd.  The long trip home consisted mostly of Bella reflecting on the dinner and the last few days which had been utter hell... her worst fears coming to life.  And now, what the aftermath of that would be still frightened her.

Salvatore was welcome to visit.  That was the final decision that was made as they left.  Bella hoped it wasn't a mistake, but there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.  Aurora knew she had another father out in the world and she knew something of the man he was... at least, a little.  Bella and Gavin would have to be there for her as she learned more and more.  

In time.  For now, her parents would do everything they could to slow her roll from grade-schooler to goomba.  Bella just hoped she was better at it than her mother had been in stopping her.  Otherwise, their dreams for Aurora having a legit future might just prove to be only that: dreams.