Bella sat up in her bed.  Her gaze drifted to the place beside her.  Empty.  Again.  Instinctively, she looked to the sofa under the window.  The spotted throw blanket was lying crumpled up beneath an old pillow she hadn't been able to push Gavin into giving up. 

Bella's chin fell to her chest.  For a moment she sat in the silence of her room, smelling delicious eggs cooking ... the scent made her stomach growl.  She didn't move right away.  Instead, she sat listening to the sounds coming up from the kitchen, not being able to make out the words.  It was her teenage daughter Aurora and her little boy William, and they were attempting to get around for school.

She put her face into the palms of her hands and she slid them hard upwards towards her hair.  Her whole body shivering, trying to release the tension of muscles driven past the point of reason in the last two weeks.  Every part of her was tight and tired, she could have slept a month and it wouldn't have been enough to have eased her aches - the external nor the internal ones.

Bella pushed herself out of the warm embrace of her blankets and out into the chill of the morning light.  One by one she went through her routines.  Picking clothes, a bit larger in recent years since William's birth.  She had never been able to get rid of those last twenty pounds or so.  Hair, a few grays beginning to appear which she'd become increasingly vain about despite her Wolf's hair silvering nicely.  Men always seemed more dignified by the hand of age... while women? She blinked at herself in the mirror, frowning at the lines forming near her eyes and lips.  All the gloss and rouge would not undo what Father time had stolen from her. 

William farted and laughed as Bella rounded the corner into the kitchen.  

Gavin put a plate of eggs down in front of Aurora.

Aurora rolled her eyes.  "God, you're such a gross little scab!"

And then another plate of eggs was put in front of William.

"God, you're such a gross little scab!"  William mimicked.  

"MOM!  Tell him to stop copying me or I'm going to flatten him."

Behind her, Gavin sat down and began to eat the last of the eggs from the frying pan.

"Aurora, don't threaten your little brother,"  Bella said sleepily pouring the coffee into her mug.  

"Will..."  Gavin began.

"FINE, I WON'T THREATEN HIM ..." Aurora roared and broke into a run chasing William around the island bar, trying to catch him.

Bella turned just in time for William to crash into her sending the coffee mug to the ground.  

"DAMN IT!"  Bella roared realizing this was the last of the coffee - her only hope for something of a breakfast today.  Staring at the coffee on the tiles she began to get tears in her eyes as she went down to pick up the bigger bits.

"Sorry, Mom."  Will tried to kneel down and help. 

Bella shoo'd the boy away, "You'll cut yourself."

Will backed away, clearly disappointed he couldn't be of some comfort or help to his mother.

"Sorry."  Aurora muttered and backed away towards her breakfast.  

As Bella finished picking up the last of the big bits, she could hear Gavin's fork quickly scraping the plate to get the last bits of his breakfast down.  As she threw away the broken mug, Gavin rinsed his plate and hurried the children to finish up their meals, which they did in silence as Bella wiped up the coffee and swept for any last bits of the mug.  

"See you after school, Mom?"  Will asked.

"Bye dear."  Bella said to her son giving him a quick hug.

"Later, Mom." Aurora offered, not giving her mom a hug.

"Have a good day, Sweetie."  She said to her daughter.

Gavin grabbed the car keys off the hook.  For a moment their eyes met, but as the children passed him headed for the garage, he said nothing and followed them out.

Bella settled down onto the barstool and stared at the door.  Silence enveloped her again. 

She was alone.

Gavin sat on the edge of the rooftop.  In his youth, hours like this wouldn't have been a big deal.  His later years, however, were not turning out to be so kind, to say nothing of seven years out of the business raising children.  

He'd tried to stay in shape, he trained daily with Aurora.  Each passing year, however, she improved and he slowed just a little more.  She was nearly as good as he was at almost every skill he possessed and she excelled in areas he'd never delved into thanks to Bella and Tara's training over the years.  Not that this made him angry.  He wanted Aurora to be accomplished in all the skills she pursued, he just wished that his own talents hadn't begun to wane - especially today.

Robert Parrish.

He was a good looking man with considerable power in the city.  He cast a long fucking shadow that swallowed other men.  He wasn't Mafia, but Mezzo owned his ass for sure, Gavin didn't even need to ask for a confirmation.  After this many years, he could spot it a mile away.  The sleazeball had a perfect smile, a shit ton more money than he should while working in public office, and he had ten years on Gavin.  Specifically, Gavin made note, that he was Bella's age. 

He watched 'Bob' (as his friends called him) get out of an expensive car and gladhand a few other guys outside of the restaurant which he'd been staking out since shortly after breakfast.  This was supposed to be a business lunch.  He'd be here for an hour, maybe two if they drank, and then head back to his desk in the DA's office.  For a brief moment, Gavin thought about slicing up his tires, but no.  He didn't want the man to know he was being watched... no, watched was too delicate a word for it.  This was something Gavin hadn't done for a lot of years.  

Gavin was hunting Mr. Parrish, and at this point, it was far too early to spook his prey.

"Psst!"  Aurora signaled to the attractive Italian boy with the piercing blue eyes who was laughing with his friends.  Half a dozen of the most popular kids in the fifth grade clamoured around the dark-haired William hanging on his every word. 

William could do no wrong in the eyes of every person who knew him even though he wasn't a tenth as good at anything as she was - yet you'd think the little shit hung the moon in the sky.  Aurora sighed when he, of course, couldn't hear her over the sound of all his friends laughing.  He had no instincts at all.  If she'd been a hitman, she'd have killed him twice over already.  Even his bodyguard acted like she was asleep on the job... talking to a playground monitor rather than having eyes on her little brother.

Aurora smirked when her kid brother ran for the bathroom.  Finally, she was getting her chance!  She sprinted across the yard and waited for him outside the door.  When Will emerged she pulled him to the side.  

"Jesus!"  He yelped when she pulled him into a corner, out of sight.

"Your bodyguards suck ass."  Aurora said.  "We should tell Dad."

Will shook his head. 

"No way.  I like Livy.  She's the bee's knees.  Besides, where's your bodyguard, and why are you even here?"  Will smirked just like his father.  "Are we cutting school?"

"WE aren't doing anything."  Aurora said with her hands on her hips.  "I need you to deliver a message for me."

"Oh Rora, not another bodyguard in the boiler room?"  

Aurora shrugged.  "The trunk.  She's fine."

Will shook his head.  "Mom is going to lose it."

"What's new?"  Aurora rolled her eyes.  "Can you tell Dad I'm fine.  I'm just going on a run to watch Anthony's back.  The guy's going to get himself killed trying to pick up a load of hooch from this little place just outside of town.  I can't let him go alone and if he doesn't do this job he's got no hope of being made.  I'm the only one who can do it."

"YOU'RE 14!"  Will stressed the case he KNEW his mother would make.  "If he can't get another no one to do it, what kind of future does he really have in the mob?  You know he doesn't really like you, right?"

Aurora pushed her brother hard against the wall.  

"Take it back."

Will was unflappable, maybe because he knew his sister wouldn't do lasting damage to him.  He ran a hand into his hair and then met her eyes,  "He doesn't deserve anyone as good as you.  You deserve better than him."

Aurora softened knowing her brother was probably right.  "Just tell Dad I'll be okay."

Will sighed.  "Alright.  I'll tell him."

Aurora ruffled Will's hair and the boy glared at her and quickly tried to fix it. 

"And tell Livy to up her game or next time I'll put her in the boiler room."  With that Aurora ran off without having been seen by any playground monitors or Will's bodyguard. 

Bella pulled the door shut at the South Philly Employment office and stared at the roses on her desk.  Her heart began racing and she instantly walked towards them to take out the card and read it.  He hesitated when she realized it said, 'Isabella' on the outside.  She withdrew her hand as if it were a firebrand.

For a moment she considered just throwing them right into the trash.  She couldn't believe he'd do something like this, so noticeable, so... public.  Now her heart was racing for another reason.  Who had seen these flowers?  How long had they been here?  

"Damn it..."  She muttered, pulling the card out of its holder.  Opening it to read.  Her eyes scanned over the elegant script and as the words passed into her thoughts she leaned against her desk letting some of the stress of last night and this morning be forgotten in the poetry put down for the sole purpose of making her smile.  It worked, but only for a moment.

"April!"  Bella called out to her secretary.

The woman peeked her head inside, "Yes, Mrs. Byrne?"

"I need you to get a travel agent on the phone.  I need to plan a trip out of the country.  A long one."

April's eyes looked to the flowers and her mouth fell open in shock for half a tick before she closed it abruptly.  "Out of the country?  Yes, Ma'am."

"Get Louis Mezzo on the phone too..."  Bella added putting the small note back into its envelope, regretfully.  "Please tell him I need to have lunch with him.  It can't wait."  

"I'll... um... get right on that too.  Anything else?"  

Bella could tell her loyal friend and employee was fishing, but she wasn't going to explain any of this.

"Send Neil in.  I need to talk to him."

April nodded.  "Immediately, Ma'am."

Bella sat down behind her desk and stare at the flowers, remembering, wishing that life wasn't so messy sometimes.

Neil, Bella's oldest friend, and most trusted confidant entered.  He only glanced at the flowers but gave no reaction, his ability to speak was lost to Bella's own hand at the age of 20, many long years ago.

Of course, she knew that Neil had to know that the flowers were not from Gavin.  

"You told him?"  Bella asked quietly and as calmly as she could.

Neil shook his head no.

Bella sighed, relieved he hadn't betrayed her again, no matter his reasons.

"But he knows?"

Neil shook his head yes.  Bella had suspected as much after last night, but what exactly did he know? 

"Everything?"

Neil shook his head no.

"Hmmm.  Well,"  Bella sat forward in her chair, knowing now that her decision to take action was indeed prudent.  "I need you to do something for me. I hate to put this on you, but I need you to deliver a message.  I can't ask this of anyone else."

Neil nodded as if to say he already understood, but since this was important to Bella, she would say the words if only to make sure nothing was lost in the delivery.

Aurora slipped into her bedroom window, shocked she was able to do so this easily.  Even with her skill set getting past Hollowood's security shouldn't have proven so easy... unless no one was home?  

"Rora!"  Will shot up out of her chair, where he'd been reading a dog-eared copy of The Counte of Monte Cristo that Aunt Tara sent years ago.

She was covered in blood, a very small bit of it was her own, but her brother probably couldn't tell that. 

"I'm okay... I just need a shower.  Are they out looking for me?"

Will shook his head, staring at her with wide eyes.  "They're not home yet.  They don't even know you're gone."

Aurora looked at the clock.  Past eight.  Where the hell were they?

"What happened?"  Will asked timidly.

"Business."  She asserted.  "I'm going to shower then we'll figure out where they are."

"You're seriously not going to tell me what happened?"  Will followed her, noting the leaves in her hair and her slight limp.  "Are you sure you don't need a doctor?  We could call someone.  Mr. Mezzo or Aunt Tar-"

"NO."  Aurora snapped.  "Not Aunt Tara.  No one.  Just... forget you saw this.  I'm fine.  It's handled.  I don't need any help."

Will stared after his sister, knowing she wasn't going to be bullied into opening up.  His only hope was that his parents would get home before she destroyed all the evidence of whatever happened today.  Otherwise, it was entirely likely they wouldn't notice anything wrong with her at all.  They'd punish her for ditching the bodyguard and that would be the end of it.  They'd both been far too distracted lately to notice much of anything going on right in front of them and now that Aurora was in real trouble - that worried the hell out of him.

Will sat down and glanced back at his book, listening to the sound of his sister crying only slightly muffled by the sounds of her shower.

Robert unlocked the door and walked into his very comfortable suburban home.  He was carrying his coat in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.  He walked right past his living room towards the kitchen, never noticing the man seated in his recliner.

Gavin could see the glow from the kitchen light.  He could hear the man open a drawer, rummage around in some steel implements and then shut the drawer.  Another moment passed and he could hear a cupboard open and hear a glass be removed from its place followed by the sound of a cupboard door shut.  The wine cork popped, he heard the man chuckle and walk back out of the kitchen.  

Parrish held an open bottle of wine in one hand, a glass in the other.  To his credit, the man dropped neither of these when he realized that he wasn't alone.  

"Who are you?"  Parrish demanded.

Gavin reached over and pulled the chain on the lamp.  "I'm Mr. Byrne."  

"You're here to kill me?"  Robert asked walking towards his own couch.  The man's ability to remain calm was a thing Gavin could almost respect.

"Do I have a reason to?"  Gavin asked, not wanting to hear the answer, but knowing he had to know if he and Bella were to find any path forward.

"That, I suppose depends on what you think warrants a death sentence..."  The man finished his glass of wine like a man facing the executioner which, of course, he was.  "...but, before you pass judgment can I interest you in some wine?"  

Gavin shook his head.  He'd drank with Will after finding out the man had kissed Bella.  That had been before they were married and had kids though.  And Will was different, Will had loved Bella before they'd been together.  The whole situation had been fucked up beyond anyone's wildest nightmares... and Will, unlike this shithead, was his brother.  Will had saved his life.  This shithead he owed nothing to and so would sooner swallow glass than share a drink with him while he tried to explain making moves on Bella.

"More for me then."  He said refilling his glass as he sat down.

"Let's start with this: do you deny it?"  Gavin wanted to say what he thought 'it' was, but he found the words dying in his mouth before they crossed his lips.  The thought of this man touching his wife, it robbed him of all good sense.

"That I'm in love with your wife?"  The man coughed lightly.

The bastard was too bold by half, Gavin's gun hand itched. 

"No.  I won't deny it.  I love Isabella.  If you came here hoping to get me to apologize for that... well, I guess we're both going to have a really bad night.  Though, I suppose the silver lining is that mine will have an ending.  Yours..."  Robert coughed again.  "Well, killing me isn't going to fix your marriage."

Gavin shook his head, "Probably not, but I'll sleep a little better knowing that you're never going near her again."

Robert put down his glass and tried to clear his throat, this time a bit more aggressively. 

Gavin had seen this before.  He stood up from the chair.

"Right here?"  The man asked between moments of clearing his throat.

"Yeah.  I'm pretty sure this is where it ends for you... but I'm not the one doing the handy work.  I just get to watch the show."  The wolf stalked over to him and with a gloved hand reached out and turned the wine bottle towards himself.

A small smirk grew on his face as Robert kept coughing.

"Where'd you get this bottle?"  Gavin asked, thinking he already knew, but he wanted the man to admit it and put it all together before he breathed his last.

"Isa... Isabella."

Gavin chuckled.

Robert looked confused.

"Viacelli vineyards.  My ex-girlfriend owns the vineyard.  I loved that woman a lot, might have married her if things had played out differently."  Gavin knelt down so the man in front of him could see his face.  So that HE could see Robert's face.

"Did you sleep with my wife?"  Gavin asked him.

"Poison?"  Robert coughed again, gasping for air.

"Answer me.  Did you sleep with my wife?"

"Why would she..."  His coughing was getting nearly constant now, a man trying to get something out of his throat that would never dislodge.  The hand of death itself.

"She's either cleaning up after herself and making sure the truth dies with you ... or stopping things from progressing in a very Dragon-like way.  So... which is it?  Did she...?"

The man kept coughing, his hands clawing at this throat as he fell to the floor, the look of panic rising in his eyes.  It would be done soon and Gavin didn't think the man would answer, which meant there was only one person he could look to for the truth now.  Normally the thought of Bella telling him the truth wouldn't even have been a question... but a lot had changed.  It wasn't as though they'd fallen asleep one night and woke the next day different.  The crumbling of their relationship had been happening in small ways, so small he barely noticed, over the course of years. 

Gavin rose up as the man on the floor stopped coughing.  He didn't look so handsome anymore, nor young.  Using Stella's wine was a nice touch on Bella's part.  It would mean nothing to anyone, but him.  It meant she knew that he knew.  One more glance at the wine caused him to narrow his eyes.  The vintage.  Surely it couldn't be a coincidence that the year it was bottled was the year they'd visited and conceived William?  No, but what did she mean by it? 

Whatever she meant, one thing was certain, Louis Mezzo wasn't going to thank her for killing his in at the DA's office if he ever found out.   And so Gavin found himself ending his night exactly as he expected he might be ... by hiding a body.  Only, instead of doing it for himself, he was going to do it to protect Bella.  No matter how pissed off he was at this whole mess, she was his wife and the mother of his children and no matter how little that might still mean to her... it still meant something to him!

"Ms. Byrne?"  the hotel desk manager called out to Tara as she was leaving for the day. 

She smiled, "Yes?"  

"You have a phone call, Ma'am.  If you like you can take it in my office just there."  

"Thank you."  Tara entered the manager's office and picked up the receiver knowing there was a very short list of people who knew how to find her at any given moment and most of them shared her last name.

"Hello?"

"Tara?"

"Bella!"  Tara delighted at hearing her sister's voice.  "How are you?  How are the kids and Gavin?"

"Well... that's why I'm calling.  You see, I was hoping you might be interested in having a little visit."

"Do you need me to come home?"  Tara's brow furrowed.  She thought she could hear some tension in Bella's voice but it was hard to say on these overseas phone calls.

"No... actually, I'm bringing the family on a vacation to Ireland and I was hoping you might meet us there."

"Ireland?  Bella what's this all about?"

"About ten years ago Gavin wanted to go to Ireland and look into your family's history.  I wanted to surprise him.  Figured it would be good for us to all reconnect a little and doing something he wants to do seems a good way to do that.  And, well, you're there in Europe so... I figured why not invite you to join us."

"Well, I'm shocked, but pleasantly so.  Of course, I'm glad to meet you.  Just say where and when!"

Hollowood Estate's security was headed up by a man not much younger than Gavin, named Douglas.  Doug, as the guys called him, kept an eye on every single person on staff and in the family's comings and goings.  This place operated as smoothly as it did only because of this one man's military-like discipline and dedication to their safety.  So it was Bella always made time for him when she saw him come out of the guard house.

"Mrs. Byrne?"  

Bella put down her purse and sighed.  "I hate it when you use the Mrs. Byrne thing... that means something is wrong."

"I'm afraid, Ma'am, it is."

Bella looked at Doug. 

"Is everyone safe?"

Doug nodded, "The Wolf isn't home yet, but the children are accounted for ... now at least."

Bella tensed.  "Aurora?"

Doug nodded and reluctantly began, "We found her detail locked in the trunk of her car about two hours ago.  She'd been in there all day.  She has no idea where Aurora was."

Bella shook her head, disappointed.  Her daughter was amazing, she was talented and brilliant and oh so fucking blessed with everything that she didn't have in childhood.  So it boggled Bella's mind when she tried to consider why the hell the girl was so hellbent on getting into trouble so god-damned often!

"Give her a pink slip."

"Severance?"

Bella nodded and then stomped her way down the hall, making note of the time.  11pm and Gavin still wasn't home on a school night?!?  Tihs was beyond acceptable.

"Aurora?"  Bella banged on her daughter's door and then opened it.  The lights were out.  Aurora was under the covers but Bella knew better than to think she was really sleeping.  "Where you today?"

No reply.

Bella threw on the light.

"MOM!"  Aurora cried out.  

"Where.  Were you.  Today?!?"

"You're making a huge deal out of nothing!"

"Damn it, Aurora, you don't realize the shit that could happen to you!  There is a reason we keep a bodyguard on you!"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!?!"

"Then why do you keep ditching them!?!  Do you know what that does to me every time you -"

"You're too BUSY to even notice I was gone for hours!"

"Now listen here!  I work my guts out so you can have this nice home and these nice clothes..."  Bella motioned to the clothing in Aurora's massive closet.

"I DON'T WANT THEM!!!"  Aurora lept from her bed and began tearing the clothes off the hangers and throwing them to the floor.

"Mom?"  William peaked his head in the room.  

"Go back to your room, William..."

"Yep!  And there it is... we gotta protect little William!  Heaven forbid he see or hear anything troubling!  We all know which kid REALLY matters around here."

William backed out of the room, unseen by either woman.

Bella turned back to Aurora, "Don't say that..."

"WILL SO MUCH AS STUBS A TOE AND YOU WRAP THE KID IN BUBBLE WRAP... HE DOES SOMETHING WRONG AND THE WHOLE WORLD CHANGES TO MAKE HIS ACTIONS RIGHT - I DO ANYTHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND AND IT'S THE DRAGON FOR ME!  WHERE'S ALL YOUR CONCERN FOR ME!?!  IT'S ALL FOR WILL!"

"DO NOT TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME YOUNG LADY!"  Bella stepped up to her daughter and for a moment she thought Aurora was going to smack her. 

The two Byrne women stared at each other for a long moment.  Their breath the only sound when finally Bella spoke, "Go to bed.  You're not going to school tomorrow... we'll discuss this another time."

Aurora in a huff ran back to her bed and threw herself under her covers and began to cry.  Bella paused at the door, flipping off the light switch, wanting to comfort her daughter but also battling the sense that she'd lost all control in her home and she needed to get it back.  Looking at the clock again, she wondered where the hell Gavin was, fearing she knew.  Without stopping at Will's room, Bella went back down to the kitchen to get something to eat and to wait for Gavin.

The door from the garage opened and Bella looked up to Gavin entering.  He looked exhausted.  She wondered how much he'd drank and how much he'd lost at the poker tables tonight.  Instead of asking she just leaned back in her chair and stared at him.  He, of course, was staring at her in that way he did.  Those eyes that loved her so much in years past now looked at her like she'd wronged him so gravely... at least now she understood why.

Bella ran a hand around her neck and rubbed at the tension.  "Aurora put her bodyguard in a trunk today and played hookie."

Gavin sighed as he hung up his coat.  "Where was she?"

Bella snapped at him, "Does it matter?!?  Gavin she's slowly drifting out of control.  At this rate, I'll be shocked if she doesn't take up that ridiculous suggestion of dropping out at sixteen in order to try for a place in Louis' crew."

Gavin nodded.

"You should have been here." 

She accused. 

He didn't reply.

"Look at what time it is!"

"Not tonight, Bella."  Gavin shook his head going to the fridge for something to drink.

"She ONLY listens to you.  Do you know how that guts me?"  Bella insisted.

Gavin sighed.

"She hates me..."  Bella pressed on.

Gavin slammed the fridge door shut, staring at it, not looking up at his wife.  "Not.  Tonight."

Bella stood up, realizing she was getting no further with Gavin than she had Aurora.  She put some papers down on the counter next to the fridge where Gavin could see them.

"We're going to Ireland.  A vacation.  The whole family."

Gavin picked up the tickets and information about the hotel.

"We leave tomorrow.  Your sister is meeting us there."

"You invited Tara too?"  Gavin arched an eyebrow.

Bella nodded and began walking, "Yea.  Figured we might need to talk to her about some things."

Gavin looked up.  "You going to bed?"

"If we're really doing this, we'll take turns.  You had it last night, I'm on the couch tonight."  With that Bella left Gavin to drink alone.

"I can't believe we're doing this."  Aurora complained.  "What's in Ireland anyway?"

"Aunt Tara apparently,"  Will said quietly as he settled into the plane seat beside her.

"Yeah, but couldn't they have just paid someone to look up all this stuff about the family or whatever?  Did we really need to go all the way across the ocean?  Some of us have lives and things happening..."

Will looked at his sister, "You know if you wanna talk about it... I won't tell.  Omerta."

Aurora looked down at her lap but didn't say anything.

"I came into your room last night because I was worried mom was gonna notice the blood on your window sill.  I figured you hadn't cleaned it up."

"Thanks.  I didn't remember.  I didn't see it until this morning."

Will nodded.  "You're mean sometimes... but I know why."

"If you say it's because I'm adopted I'll break your nose and then we'll be headed to a hospital instead of Ireland."

"I wasn't going to say that ..."  Will chuckled, but his enthusiasm faded as he concluded with, "We're in real trouble, Rora."

"Nah.  They didn't figure out what I was up to."

"That's not what I mean."  Will whispered.  "I think we're going to Ireland because mom and dad want to tell us with Aunt Tara there, you know, to help us understand."

"Understand what?"  Aurora looked out the window at the engines starting up.

"That they're getting a divorce."

Aurora snapped her head back to look at Will and realized the boy was serious. 

"Don't be stupid.  They love each other."

Will shrugged.  "Maybe you haven't been paying attention a lot lately, but something is up.  They've been fighting."

"They always have."  Aurora shrugged.  "They make up.  Wolves and Dragons.  It's what they do."

Will shook his head.  "Not like this... Dad is gone every weekend.  Mom is never home during the week.  When they are together they fight like cats in a wet bag about his poker, her late nights ... I think this is like Carver's parents did.  They took him to Florida gave him tons of gifts... then told him they were going to live in different states.  Mom and Dad are trying to break this easier to us with support from Aunt Tara.  And if we don't do something, our family as we know it may be over!"

Aurora looked back to Gavin and Bella who were seated by each other but their bodies were turned away from one another.  Each focused on something other than one another. 

"They are acting pretty cold for two people taking the first vacation we've had in five years."

Will nodded.

"We have to help them."  He whispered.

"Even if you're right, and I'm not sure you are, what the hell are we going to do for them?"

"We could start by NOT pissing them off."

"So this is my fault?"  Aurora glared at her brother.

"It's both of us.  All of us.  Them mostly, but can we just call a truce for this vacation.  We make a blood oath here and now we work like a family for this trip.  Together.  No matter what the situation, you and I are on the same team just this once?"

Aurora looked back at her parents who appeared sad and miserable and then down at her annoying little brother.  She wasn't sure what the hell they could do to help, but the logic of working with the little pipsqueak to save her parents' marriage seemed sound.  Aurora pulled out her pocket knife and pricked her finger and Will's.

"My blood and yours... we are one in this.  May I burn in hell if I betray you on this trip."  Aurora said and then told Will, "Repeat what I said."

Will repeated obediently, "My blood and yours... we are one in this.  May I burn in hell if I betray you on this trip."  

The young boy beamed.  "Our first job together."

She shook her head.  "I was half your age on my first one with Dad."

"You're making that up."  Will insisted.

"Am I?"  She arched an eyebrow.

"Okay... what did you do?"

Aurora smirked and shook her head.  "Sorry.  Omerta."

"I knew you were lying."  William pulled out his book.

Aurora closed her eyes and chuckled to herself remembering the Christmas she and her father played Santa to all of South Philly... the same Christmas she buried Grandpa Jack and Uncle William.

Her smile faded and slowly she drifted off to dream as the plane began to fly over the Atlantic Ocean.

The room smelled a mix of shepherd's pie, a beer brewed out of potatoes, smoke, and the old wood which made nearly every surface from the floors to the walls to the exposed beams, tables, and bar.  Outside the late night air was cold but inside the common room of the Green Dragon Inn, it was warm and inviting.

A band played music on a stage at the far end of the room and the young men and women, including Aurora, were still dancing even at this late hour.  Will had made a few friends too, though the lot of them looked fit for bed an hour ago.  Full stomachs and hearts meant most everyone in the room was wearing a smile.  

Most.

Tara noted Gavin watching the young men who were talking to his daughter with more than a passing interest.  He had hardly spared a look for his wife in over an hour.  Bella's body was angled away from Gavin, suggesting an unseen barrier between them which she'd never seen the like of before and it seemed to confirm all of her sister's worries which she'd expressed over the phone a few days ago.  Tara had hoped the woman was, as she tended to do, overreacting... but she wasn't and it gutted her to see.

Gavin shifted in his seat as a young man took Aurora's hand and led her to the dance floor for a slow song.  Bella, who had been catching Tara up on the happenings in Philadelphia these past months, glanced when Gavin moved.  Her words trailed off as she noted what had caught her husband's attention.  A handsome red-haired boy smiling at her daughter.

Tara smiled as she watched her niece dance.  It had been years since she'd seen the girl's talent on display and she, in her natural grace and beauty, made the boy look better.  For a time the three of them sat silent, watching as Aurora continued to slip further and further out of the world of her childhood fancies and into something that more closely resembled the world they inhabited.

"She needs to stay away from that boy."  Gavin finally said softly enough that only Tara and Bella could hear.

"Gavin, you can't put her in a cloister.  She's at that ag-"

Gavin cut off Bella mid-sentence, "Corner booth.  Peaky cap."

Bella glanced casually in the direction that Gavin indicated, as did Tara, in spite of herself.  The table was full of the boy's friends... and the man in the peaky cap seemed to be central to all of them.  A bit older than the others, probably twenty if she had to guess.  And while Ireland's internal conflicts with themselves and the English were well-known, very few men could afford or would be wearing a pistol.  The sort who did were assuredly tied up in the troubles.

"Damn."  Bella said sadly.

Tara glanced at Aurora who was positively radiant with happiness, eyes locked on the young man with hopeless infatuation.  As the song ended, the boy's hand lingered on her arm for a moment longer than was polite and Tara could feel Gavin tense, expecting the boy to steal a kiss - but he didn't.  

"I'll take the kids to bed.  I think they've both had enough fun for one night."  Bella stood up and looked to Gavin, "Well tell her tomorrow."

Gavin sighed but said nothing.

Bella stared at Gavin a moment longer as if she expected something more or was thinking of saying more, but instead, she turned to Tara and said her goodnight before gathering up her children and heading to their rooms.

Tara turned her attention to Gavin who was still looking over at the young Irish men.

"What's going on?"  Tara asked her brother.

"A place like this, he's low-level green-book.  The kids they -"

Tara rolled her eyes. "Between you and Bella?"

Gavin looked back to Tara and stared at her for a long while, his steel blue eyes could have drilled holes through walls and could break most people but not his sister.  She returned his gaze in equal measure.  She knew he didn't want to talk about things but she also knew he HAD TO.

"You haven't been this way in years, Gavin.  You need to talk to her."

Gavin leaned back in his seat and drank from his whiskey.

"And what's more is that you want to,"  Tara added.  "Or you wouldn't have stayed here to talk with me."

Still nothing from the wolf.  Tara leaned across the table.

"Gavin..."  Her quiet tone was softer now.  "She asked me to come here because she's afraid."

Gavin scoffed which was as much as a rant from other men.

"In the two days you've been here digging through birth and death records, the two of you have hardly said a dozen things to each other that I've seen.  You're both drinking like fish and William looks at the both of you like you're a ticking bomb."

Gavin's brow furrowed in the first expression of something other than annoyance or disinterest that she'd seen since they'd reunited.  Tara took this as a good sign.

"I'm pissed."  He admitted.

Tara nodded. 

"I've never been this mad at her before and ... I just..."  Gavin didn't need to finish the sentence. 

She put her arm across the table and took her brother's hand in her own and gave it a squeeze.  She and he had a special bond, they had ever since they were children and not just because they had come into this world together - but due to what they'd faced together.  The lack of nurture had cemented what nature had put into them and the demons of their shared past were not hers alone to bear.  She'd always seen them manifesting in Gavin through his womanizing, dangerous behavior, gambling, and drinking... but that had been before Bella.  Perhaps, if she'd given it thought before, she might have realized even his love for Bella couldn't bury her father's influence over her brother's life.  Not completely at least.

"Let me help."  Tara said softly.

"There's nothing you can do."  Gavin said regretfully. 

"Bella was telling me all about her plan to bring you here, away from her work and your gambling to try and sort things out.  She hoped that it would help, but we were both pretty doubtful that a change of scenery was going to be enough.  So, I offered my help and she pretty much said the same thing you just did."

"You talked with her about this?  You ... you know?"  Gavin said, a little annoyed that his wife chose to speak to Tara rather than him about this deeply personal wound to their relationship.

Tara nodded. 

Gavin sighed.

Taking her hand back, Tara picked up her purse and pulled out a small business card and a key.  She handed it to Gavin.  "I was going to give that to Bella.  She asked me to see about getting it, but I think maybe you need to be the one to give it to her."

Gavin narrowed his eyes and read the card as well as the note on the back.  "What is this?"

"Wish fulfillment maybe?  Maybe the opportunity you both need to make things right?  If not ... then a quiet place to work out what the future looks like, away from everything, including the kids.  Bella asked me here to stay with them while the two of you did this, and I agreed."

Gavin shook his head.

"I and the kids will keep looking into our family history while you do what you need to do.  Just take the key, your wife, and your things and go to the address on the card.  All the arrangments she asked for were made... and maybe a surprise or two of my own for you both."

She could see Gavin softening.  "Thank you."  He finally said.

"I just made some calls and wrote a check.  The hard part... that's up to the two of you."  She stood up and kissed her twin brother's forehead and put a hand on his cheek as she looked into his eyes.  She wanted to tell him that he wasn't their father, that he could be angry and hurt and that he'd never do to Bella what their father had done to their mother... but she knew she didn't need to.  His fears would not be dismissed by her words and, even unspoken, Gavin knew exactly what she held in her heart.

She patted his cheek twice and then, she headed up to her room for sleep.  Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

The impatient clattering of feet down the hallway towards Louis’ office did not bode well.  In the doorway stood Kalinic and Gavroche, who was in charge of the drug front Louis had in the projects.  Louis sat at the desk reviewing plans for some of the new businesses in South Philly and looked up as the pair got their breath back.

“Gentlemen, what can I do for you?”

Gavroche looked at Kalinic and removed his hat.

“Don Mezzo, we had a raid on the facility at Northam Heights.  The FBN have taken everything we have and all of the guys there in to charge them…”

Louis looked over at Kalinic who shrugged his shoulders.

“Did Parrish not get in touch to tip us off at all?”

“I didn’t hear anything boss.  Gavroche heard nothing either.  This has come right out of the blue.”

Louis slammed his fist onto the desk and threw a paperweight against the wall.

“Do we not pay Parrish enough to be ahead of the game?  I know we pay him...I have the political donation details that the Railroad have put in…” Louis waved some papers in the air…”we have that fuck in our pockets exactly for this fucking reason!”

Kalinic looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet.

“That’s the thing boss.  I spoke to Woock down at the precinct and he’s heard that Parrish hasn’t been seen for a couple of days.”

Louis stomped around the office.  Bella couldn’t have picked a better time to head away to find herself.

Tara closed her book and looked at the time.  She could hear the radio on in Aurora's room still.  It was well past nine and time for Will and her to be in bed.  So, she went out into the hall and nodded to Linval who was on guard outside Aurora's door. 

Linval gave her a smile and rose up with the key to the kid's room in hand.  "Ms. Byrne." 

Unlocking it he opened the door and stepped to the side allowing Tara to enter and find that while the music was still playing... both her niece and nephew were gone.  The window across from the door was a full story off the ground and so she hadn't thought to have it watched.  And yet, it was cracked slightly, as if someone failed to close it completely from the outside.

"Linval?" She said, far calmer than she felt.

"Yes, Ma'am?"  He peaked his head in and then let out a sigh which let Tara know this wasn't the first time this had happened.

"Call in my boys.  I think we have a problem."

•·················•·················•

William followed Aurora east down buckle street, but it was hard to keep pace while remaining unseen.  Luckily his sister wasn't afraid of being caught tonight.  Instead, she seemed more focused on getting where-ever the hell it was that she was leading him.  

He thought about calling out to her, calling her on her bullshit behavior - this thing they'd both agreed to not take part in for the duration of the trip, but no... he wasn't here to bust her.  While he presumed that his parents were out on that boat trying to save their marriage or sort out the details of their divorce, that didn't end his and Aurora's mission, no matter what she might think.  Sure she was going through something... but that none of that changed their obligation to each other or the mission of saving their family.

So, he committed to following her even though it most likely would end with Aunt Tara never trusting either of them again.  Whatever shit she was throwing herself into, he was going to be there with her... just in case.

Aurora went up to a house and knocked on the door.  A goon in suit opened it.  Surely she wasn't there to see him!  A moment later he was letting Aurora and her backpack enter.

Will ran up to the door and knocked just as Aurora had.

The goon opened the door and looked right over his head.  

"Good evening."  Will said with a smile.

The goon looked down and arched an eyebrow.  "What do you want?"

"I was hoping I might come in and ..."  He could hear music coming from somewhere inside, downstairs by the muffled sound of it.  "Join the party?"

The goon chuckled.  "Go away, Kid.  Adults only."

Will wanted to protest and scream that his sister was just a kid and the man had just let her enter, but he bit his tongue.  Instead, he leaned on the door frame and smirked at the man while reaching into his pocket.  "Are you SURE you couldn't let me and my good friend come in for just a little while if I promise not to cause any trouble?"

The goon was about to say no, but he looked at the bill which was much larger than he expected a child to be carrying.

"Come on... what trouble could I possibly cause?"  He asked.  He could tell the man was considering it.  "If anyone asks, I'll tell them I snuck in through the window.  Come on man..."  

Will took a chance and tucked the bill into the man's pocket in a way he'd seen his mother do before.  

The goon looked around and then stepped aside pretending not to notice as William slipped inside.  A victory.  He was here, but what the hell was HERE?

•·················•·················• 

Aurora closed the tube of lipstick and put it back into her backpack and hid the cloth pack under the bathroom sink.  A moment later she was walking carefully down a set of old wooden steps and into another world. 

The singer at the front of the overly crowded room belted out a powerful tune accompanied by the hottest jazz band she never dreamed of finding in Ireland. 

The place reminded her of the speakeasy back home, a bar hidden away in the basement of someones home, a person she didn't know.  Which was fitting as the person she'd come here to meet was also a near stranger to her. 

The onslaught of sound was utter, she could feel the reverberations in her bones.  Were it not for the dozens of couples swaying cheek to cheek in this place, all but making love on the dance floor, Aurora knew it would be deafening.  Moving through the throng of people was a slow process.  It gave her time to look around at the people and get to know the sort of place she'd wandered into.  

Most were in their twenties, though a handful were teens like her, trying to look older than they were.  If this had been a speakeasy back home she'd say most everyone in the room was a Wise Guy or better, but the IRA didn't call their people by those titles.  Her father had told her to stay away from the 'boy' she'd met at the Green Dragon, worried about his connections to dangerous people, but Aurora suspected she'd known who her new friend was with before her father had picked up on the detail.  A fact that amused her to no end.

Gavin meant well, in the way that all fathers did... but she wasn't a child anymore and she wished that she could explain that to him, but Will was right.  As it turned out, Will had been right about everything and that had become obvious the morning that Bella and Gavin boarded a small ship together and took it out into the ocean alone leaving them with Aunt Tara.  

Her Dad, both of her parents, had bigger problems to deal with than her blooding.  And so, Aurora said nothing.  What they didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Hot damn!"  Dermott said.

Aurora turned to find her date looking at her gobsmacked.

"Red is your color."  He said with a smile splitting his face ear to ear.

Aurora looked down at her mother's dress hanging on her body as if she'd been born wearing it - well, all except the top which she had to pad with socks so she didn't look as flat as a board.

"Thanks."  She purred.

"Want some gin?"  The sixteen-year-old offered Aurora a silver flask and she didn't hesitate.  She'd had gin before, a few times, though never in a situation quite like this.  She shuddered as she finished the sip.  It was so sweet that it almost didn't taste like alcohol at all.  She wondered at the quality and the nature of the brewmasters but didn't want to insult her date.

He chuckled and put his flask inside his coat before offering his hand to Aurora.

"Shall we?"

Aurora nodded, sure that for at least a little while she wouldn't have to think about Anthony.

Bella felt the rise and fall of each wave as she finished putting away her and Gavin's clothes into the dresser.  This boat, unlike the massive steamer, was small enough that she swore she could feel each drop of water passing under and around the vessel.  The motion left her uneasy, adding a bit of pressure in an already stressful situation.

Two gift boxes were on the bed, as of yet unopened.  Bella glanced at them.  The largest box, wrapped in gold foil paper and a beautiful white ribbon had a card which read, "Open Second."  The second box, wrapped in brilliant red paper with a black satin bow read, "Open Immediately."

Bella sat down and picked up the red one.  It was heavy in her hands leaving her baffled as to what could possibly be inside.  She could hear Gavin walking across the deck and then down the stairs.  She looked up to meet his blue eyes as he appeared in the doorway.

"It says immediately."  She lifted the box.  "Maybe we should open it now?"

Gavin shrugged, not coming over to the bed, instead leaning on the door frame watching her.

Bella carefully peeled away the paper to reveal thick cardboard.  Pulling the staples free released a tiny puff of cold air into her face.  Bella smiled as she reached down into the box and pulled out a bottle of wine and a tiny carton of vanilla ice cream.  Taped to the front of it a note which Bella read out loud and then showed it to Gavin.

"A simple ice cream, because..."  She hesitated.  Saying it out loud to Gavin meant that there was ever a question.  It meant this was really happening.  There were doubts.  She knew there were fears, anger and hurt... but they hadn't spoke about any doubt that they'd ever be anything other than Mr. and Mrs. Byrne.  She and Gavin had become quite accustomed to that way of life.  Saying this meant they were done with it.  Saying it meant they were going to confront the ugly things like a Moose in the middle of the road, come what may.

She was a mouse, barely squeaking, "...a marriage worth saving is complicated." 

"I'll get some bowls and glasses."  Gavin said turning to go back up the stairs.  Bella kept staring at the note.  The words repeating themselves in her head.  Her stomach felt like it was falling through the floor, her chest with tight with dread.  How could they have gotten to this point?  Gavin and Bella... the Wolf and the Dragon... there used to be nothing they couldn't say to each other.  They used to believe in one another so much they could have faced down anything together.  But now?  Were they really that strong still?  It didn't feel like it.

Gavin returned and took the ice cream to begin dishing it at a small table in the room.  Bella took the corkscrew and opened the wine.  She poured it for them and offered Gavin a glass.  He, in turn, gave her a bowl of ice cream and they sat down across from each other, eating in silence.  In her mind, Bella could imagine Gavin repeating the words of their past, trying to call up the ghost of that first meeting but... he said nothing.

Bella had to try.

"You know. They say that watching a person eat ice cream tells you an awful lot about them."  She said with a hint of a smile.

Gavin looked up and nodded slowly.

Silence again.

Bella's shoulders sank.  She took another bite of ice cream.

Gavin looked up and forced himself to say what she'd said that first time they spoke, "Is that so?  Is it the flavor, or how they eat it which informs your assessment?"

Bella chuckled.  "Beautiful and clever."  She kept it going, trying desperately to remember what was said beyond the next bit.  "Both, of course."

Gavin put down his spoon and the sound of the sea was deafening around them as the silence between them stretched on for so long that it began to have a weight all it's own.

"Did you..."  Gavin began.  

Bella's mouth fell open and tears filled her eyes.  Her head was already shaking no, ever so imperceptively.

"If you did, I just need to know."  Gavin said.  "The not knowing is..."

"I can't believe you."  Bella said in disgust putting her spoon down.

"I just need you to say it.  I'll believe whatever you say."

"Why?!?"  Bella snapped at him.  "Because you trust me so damn much?!?"  

Gavin sighed.  "Because this marriage means that much to me."

"So, you'll take me at my word not because you actually believe me, but because you're afraid of letting go of something you don't even have faith in anymore?!?  What kind of life is that Gavin?  What kind of marriage would we even be in!"

Gavin became angry.  "So you'd throw it all away?  Why?  Cause I'm gone every weekend?  Cause I've spent more of our massive hoard of money than you want?  Cause... cause you and the kids aren't getting along?"

Bella shook her head, "You're never home!"

"Me?  I'm home all week long with the kids!  You're home late almost every night WHEN you even bother coming home at all!"

"You KNOW how it is... Gavin you know how the life is!  How many times did you crawl into the bed at four in the morning only to leave before nine?!?"

"I always came home.  I never slept in an office when I was in Philly."  He said a bit sadder.

Bella's voice dropped to match his, "When you were still in the game... you'd never come home to find me sleeping on the couch."

Silence.

Bella watched her ice cream starting to melt in its bowl.  She picked up her spoon and stirred it, making it softer.  A moment later Gavin picked up his spoon and went back to eating until he'd cleaned his bowl.

"I should try to put some poles in the water if I'm going to catch dinner."  He said and then downed his wine in a prolonged drink.  Bella watched him do this, gather his things and then head up the stairs.  She knew they had to talk.  Honesty had to happen but her stomach was rolling from the sea and so much honesty all at once.  

This wasn't going to be an easy boat ride.

William descended the stairs, passing people going up hand in hand.  The music had changed up slightly since he'd entered the house and here in the basement it was so loud you could barely hear the person next to you.  The air was thick with the warmth from bodies dancing slow and close, as well as from a sticky sort of haze of smoke which hung in the air all around them.  It was a scent he was entirely unfamiliar with, not cigarettes or cigars to be sure!

Looking around he tried to spot his sister's backpack or her dart hair still up in a ponytail, or maybe the blouse and trousers she'd departed the hotel in... of course, he could see nothing like that here.  Many of the gents that were present were toughs (or wanted to be) and the dames were all dolled up with lipstick and rouge.  Aurora should have stood out like a sore thumb amongst such a crowd, a crowd that easily belonged in one of his mother's speak-easy dives back home in Philadelphia, but the young teen in her street clothes was nowhere to be seen.

"Aren't you a little young to be in here?"  

Will froze at the sound of a teenage girl's voice, at least until it broke into a tinkling laugh.  He turned his head and found his body working against itself.  A smirk split his face wide and his eyes locked upon the impressive sweater in front of him - something that probably should have gotten himself a smack.  Instead, the girl apparently found his gobsmacked expression endearing.

"What are you... ten?"  The young woman's thick blonde curls flounced as she moved her head speaking to him.

Will forced his eyes up to hers and cleared his throat.  He then gave his very best imitation of Gavin Byrne, "How old would I have to be for you to dance with me?"

"Aren't you a smooth little, Romeo!"  She said seemingly impressed with his attempt, maybe even flattered!  "You are pretty cute, but I... um... I'm on the clock, you see?  Bossman wouldn't like it if I stopped serving drinks to dance with his guests."

Will remembered then why he was here as she indicated there was some sort of authority here and he was well-off enough to be paying beautiful women to serve drinks. 

"Is he watching us?"  Will asked, a little nervous.

"Very doubtful, he's got some important guests tonight."  She said.  "Besides, even if he does see you, I doubt he'll throw you out so long as you don't go making a big show of yourself.  The way I hear it told, he was a bit of a bad boy in his day too.  He can't fault a kid like you for wanting to see what all the fuss is about, right?" 

Will felt weak in the knees as she laughed.  Had he EVER seen such an angel before in his whole life?

"Just lay low,"  She continued to advise him, "... have fun and try not to get into trouble, alright?"

"What's your name?"  He found himself asking, knowing he'd probably never see her again.

"Shaylee."  She said in her thick Irish accent.  Balancing her tray on one hand she offered the other to William.  "Shaylee McGinnis."

"Well, Miss Shaylee,"  Will took her hand and then, perhaps out of madness or stupidity or maybe both, he flipped it and put his lips to the back of her hand gently and for a prolonged moment.  "I"m William and I think I've already found what all the fuss is about, right here."

The older girl blushed and then shook her head.  "You're gonna break a lot of hearts one day, William."  She took her hand back and picked up a glass off her tray and gave it to the young man.  "Drink it slow, and no more than one... alright?"

Will smiled at Shaylee who his attempts at flirting apparently had worked upon and then at the alcohol.  His mother NEVER would have allowed this!  His heart raced as he accepted the glass.  "You got it."

Glass in hand William made his way painfully slow through the crowd of people, most of whom despite being tall for his age, stood head and shoulders taller than him.  The drink in his glass had a green leaf in it and smelled strongly of mint.  He found himself putting the glass to his lips and taking the tiniest sip.  The drink was sweet, but it burned and a wave of heat washed over him and made him smile.  Whatever this was, he liked it... a lot.

Shaylee disappeared from his sight and he was back to watching for his sister, but as of yet, he'd found nothing and no one who looked anything like she'd looked when she departed the hotel less than an hour ago.  If he hadn't seen her go into the house, he'd be questioning whether he had even gone to the right place.

Where the hell is she?

Will took another sip of his drink, this time he found the courage to take an actual swallow.  The smirk on his face was permanent as he considered that it might not be so bad if it took a little longer to locate Aurora.  This was, after all, good music and the smell in the air wasn't THAT bad.

Aurora tapped her foot to the music.  She watched closely as Dermott interacted with the older members of his gang and the gentleman she could assume was the owner of this house.  He, unlike Dermott, was the sort of person her father had warned her about; a green book carrying member of the Irish patriots.  She should have been nervous, but she wasn't. 

These men didn't care about some vacationing American who one of their promising recruits was smitten with.  She was just a skirt in their eyes and that's what she wanted to be tonight.  After all, this was a vacation, right?  So why shouldn't she have a few laughs and just leave the Cosa Nostra behind for a few days?  Aunt Tara had done it for years, after all, and her Dad had too.  They were living proof that it didn't matter whose blood was in her veins, nor who had raised her.  She was the only one who could determine her path in life.  She was the master of her own vessel and destiny.  And no one here knew her as the person she'd been carefully crafting herself into back home.  Here, so far away from Philly, she could be anyone she wanted to be... at least for tonight.

Aurora watched the men alongside Dermott, hanging on their boss' every word, begging for scraps from his table and she felt a small swell of pity for the lot of them.  It occurred to her, just then, how very much like Anthony they all really all were.  None of them would see live to see the dream of a free Ireland they'd been sold into slavery on.  Very few of them would live to be as old or influential as their boss.  Their blood was the currency which men like their boss used to fund their own earthly pleasures; all the while sending boys marching off to the pit of hell with songs of righteousness passing over their lips.  

The army was no different than the Cosa Nostra and it wasn't about national pride or the love of family for either group's leaders.  The mob and the IRA worshipped the same Gods and Aurora had imagined their faces as vividly as some children could call up the image of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.  In truth, they were more real to her than either had been at any point in her life.  

Dermott shook the hand of his boss excitedly.  Whatever he'd wanted to hear, it clearly had been told to him.  He was on cloud nine as he came towards her.  Things had gone his way.  She forced a smile.  She wanted to feel happy for him, but some small part of her kept seeing another young man's face...

'You're not supposed to be here!  You're not supposed to be here!  Oh fuck!  Oh, fuck me!'

Dermott took her and pulled her close, shattering the memory.  

"Oh, Dollface!"  He coo'd to her as he spun her out onto the dance floor.  "Everything's falling into place!"

Aurora touched his cheek affectionately.

"This time next year, I'll have my own house... a car.  I'll be a man of means!  I'll be someone who's life means something, like Donovan."

"Your life DOES mean something."  She wanted him to understand, to hear her words and believe them, but as his lips brushed upon hers she knew that he could only hear them as a song of seduction.  He had no way of understanding her, no frame of reference.  For him this life was his way out of poverty and pain... he had no idea that the only place a life like this ever ended was in pain.  That all the riches in the world could never buy him the real happiness he wanted.  He would only ever understand that once it was far too late.

They swayed together, kissing, his hands brushing across her skin and down her backside, sent chills through her body.  It was enough to push away the darker thoughts and bring her back to the moment.  Aurora had long ago resigned herself to the truth of the world.  There wasn't any point in romanticizing this little fling which she'd never meant to invest herself into. 

Dermott was a pleasant footnote in a stressful vacation away from an even more stressful incident back home which she'd have to face when they returned.  He was not a plan for forever.  At least she had the good sense to know the difference, even if kissing him did make her feel like she was flying and helped her to forget the pain of that terrible evening last week.

When Dermot was torn from her arms she didn't know what the hell was happening. 

For a moment she was completely disoriented.  Maybe it was the alcohol, or the pot, or abrupt way everyone in the room reacted, but Aurora was pushed back from the dance floor with the screaming crowd.  Before her, she could see Dermott down on his back.  Atop him, a younger man... no... boy straddled his body and was throwing sloppy punches in a flurry!  

Aurora screamed, "WILL!"

Tara opened the door to the sound of impacting against a solid body and entered the dimly lit space.  It hadn't been the sort of scene she'd taken part in for some time, but making people talk today hadn't been easy.  The last thing she wanted to do was use a radio to call out to her brother's boat with a message that his children were missing.  So, it was that the former Godmother resorting to old methods utilizing Bella's enthusiastic goons.

She held up a hand and Neil held his balled up fist before hitting the young man again. Tara stepped into the light, lifting her chin ever so slightly, looking down her nose at the badly beaten man before her.  The man sputtered, trying to catch his breath.  She had to give the Irish this, they were certainly made of tough stuff.  

She took the man's chin in her hand and made him look up to her.  "The boy, Dermott, he was with you in The Green Dragon last night... where can I find him?"

"Donovan.  Throwin' some sort of shindig at the old Blaine place.  Invite only."

"A party?"  She asked arching an eyebrow, the man's blood and piss pooling around her Italian leather pumps.

The man nodded.

"Where's this ... old Blaine's place?" 

Behind her, she could hear the scratching of pencil on paper as one of her people took down the address the bastard spit out. 

Tara looked to Linval, "See that this man is never found."

Linval nodded pulling out his gun.

"Wait... what?  I didn't do anything?!?"  The man began frantically pleading.

Tara turned to leave, calmly saying, "My brother & sister can't afford any trouble with the IRA."

"I WON'T TELL.  I WON'T TELL ANYONE!  NO GOD... PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  

The Godmother easily ignored the man's cries for mercy and the sounds of the gun as the door closed behind her.  

The door to LouisMezzo's office got a knock and then after the required moment that was polite, Kalinic entered followed by Gabe Vitale.  Gabe was a wise guy who, through repeated failures since the days of both Tara and his Grandfather, had fallen short of being a Made Man.  The older fellow wasn't getting younger and wanted the promotion as bad as anyone, but he was sloppy and heavy-handed making it impossible that he'd ever be more than what he was now.

Gabe had a younger man that Louis didn't know held by the scruff.  The young man was roughed up bad and looked as though he was being brought to the gallows.  He was pale at the sight of the acting Godfather and tears began to fill his eyes as Gabe tossed him to the ground the way someone threw away trash.  For a moment Louis thought Gabe might kick him.

Kalinic stepped back, waiting to be needed.

"Godfather Mezzo."  Gabe said taking off his cap and inclining his head.  "I'm really sorry about having to take up some of your time today, but the moment I found out what happened, I knew you'd want to hear about it yourself."

This time Gabe did kick the young man on the floor and as he came forward he looked up to the Godfather, terror filling his eyes.

"TELL HIM!"  Gabe snapped.

"I and Joey Nose were sent to put a bullet in Anthony Russo."  He swallowed.

Anthony Russo was a goomba that was known to be working for Bella.  The boy wasn't yet twenty but he'd entered the lowest ranks of the Race Street operations while he was still in grade school.  Brought in by Bella's own bodyguards and eventually shuffled around into Gabe's gang of whiskey runners.  Louis didn't know much about him, though some of the lower guys said he was sweet on Bella's daughter Aurora.  The girl was just getting to that age where boys would become a concern to her, but no one ever feared that kid would ever have a boy force his attention on her.  She was as deadly as half of the made hitmen on Louis' payroll, having been trained by Race Street's best since she could walk.

Gabe spoke up, "I caught wind that he was getting too handsy with Don Byrne's daughter, heard he'd taken her to a speakeasy.  I wasn't going to stand for that shit in my operation, so I took the liberty to have him handled."  He said before kicking the young man again. 

"KEEP GOING!"

A tear ran down the young man's face, "We didn't know why.  We just do what we're told.  They said he was making his first run to pick up some bathtub hooch and we could hit him then, out of the city, in the woods.  Thought we got lucky when we found him making out in the bushes with some broad.  Figured he'd be too distracted.  Die happy.  I ... I just thought that it was some broad.  I didn't know!!!!"  

Gabe glared down at the young man.

"Joey double tapped him from behind."  He stammered.  "Clean shots... but... when I heard her screaming..." 

The young man's lip quivered,  "Joey pulled Anthony off her.  He was gonna finish it but the girl ... she was too fast.  I pulled my iron but when I saw who it was ...  I SWEAR I put it down!  Even when she... she... oh god I didn't do anything to her I swear it.  I just... I just... let her go and I ran!"

Gabe sighed, clearly disgusted with the soft-hearted young hitman.  "Russo was with Don Byrne's daughter when he was shot.  The girl killed Joey Nose.  Left one hell of a mess.  I didn't even know it happened until just today.  When Nose and this clown hadn't been seen by any of my boys for days we tracked him down and he sung like a bird.  Apparently, the girl drove Russo's car back into the city and this shithead ran leaving the bodies out in the woods for the coyotes."

The papers to his left hand were a pile of reports about how the businesses were running, the pile to his right hand was correspondence and complaints about some of the practices coming out of some of the lower level guys.  Louis liked the left hand pile but the right hand one was starting to take up more and more of his time and aggravating him more.  He picked one up, “Dear Don Mezzo, What do I have to do to…” he tossed it down as Kalinic came to the door.  His heart sank when he saw Gabe Vitale in the doorway with him.  The guy was…there…always there…keen to impress but with little talent or self-awareness to launch himself forward.  Was it being a little uncharitable thinking of him as a grease spot on a good shirt?  Maybe the right hand pile was playing on his mind a bit much.

As the kid was thrown to the office floor, Louis listened to the story.  All he could focus on was “..I took the liberty.”  Fuck up after fuck up was coming out of some of these people and all on the idea of liberty, initiative and enthusiasm.  He thought back to the night of the Pier with Gavin.  He had been the epitome of professionalism probably because Tara would have worn his balls for earrings if he stepped too far out of line.

He leaned into the drawer of his desk, there had been a battered baseball bat found in the railway yard which Louis had taken ownership of.  It was one of his “enthusiasms”…the dichotomy between individual achievement and team work. He got to his feet, walked around his desk twirling the bat absent mindedly and stood over the kid on the floor gripping the bat tighter allowing it to sit more menacingly in his hand.

“Where exactly are these bodies?”

The kid started looking as if he was about to mess himself on the floor in front of him.

“Just tell me, you’re probably in as much trouble as you’re likely to be in at this moment.”

The kid coughed, spraying a little blood over his own face.

“Just in the woods up at Wissahickon Don Mezzo.  I am sorry, we didn’t know…”

Louis looked back at Gabe and held his hand down to help the kid to his feet.  He looked out of the office, Mildred was working on her typing in a way that only someone desperately trying hard not to pay attention can do.

Louis bellowed, “MILDRED!”

She stood, shook her clothes down and appeared silently in the doorway, there were times to talk and it didn’t seem like this was one.

“Have this kid seen to, get him looked over and send him back here once he’s done.  And could you get Isabella-Luciano to visit at her earliest convenience.”

She put her arm around the kid and walked him out closing the door.  Louis motioned for Gabe to sit down.  Kalinic stood patiently at the doorway.  Louis sat opposite Gabe.

“So, you sent the kids to kill this Russo boy?  You knew he had something to do with Bella’s daughter and rather than come and say anything…you took the liberty.  You took the liberty to send those kids with half a thing.  You took the liberty to put Aurora in danger and you took the liberty to have that kid killed.  Then you took the liberty of beating that kid up and damn near killing him because you sent him into a situation unprepared.  You wonder why you haven’t progressed?  Do you really wonder?  Why boys half your age are vaulting you and being recognised?”

Louis stood again and gripped his bat tightly.

“…I…”

Louis swung as Gabe put his hands up to protect his head.  The bat on arm made a sickening crack.  Gabe shouted in pain.  Louis paused in mid backswing...

“Teamwork Gabe...you look after your guys, we look after you…”

Gabe tried to lift his broken arm up but was too slow, Louis swung again this time connecting with the side of Gabe’s jaw, spraying blood and spit all over the place.  He crumpled into a heap.  Louis stood over him and went to swing the bat again, Kalinic cleared his throat causing Louis to turn around.

“You have something to say?”

“Not at all boss but he’s making a mess already, anything else is unnecessary.”

Louis stepped back and watched the bubbling clown on the floor in front of him.  

“When that kid comes back, have him show you exactly where the bodies are.  Take three cars, one man in each.  Take all the bodies and this fuck up to that scrapyard we have and torch two of the cars.  Have them crush everything.”

Kalinic started to drag Gabe’s slowly expiring body out of the office as Louis walked out.  Maybe that pile was really starting to get to him.

Gavin was standing on the deck, alone looking out across the sea like he was part of a mariner painting of old.  He seemed strong, his silver hair shining in the moonlight as if he knew where his ship was headed and he was eager to get there.  The charming boy she'd met so many years ago was gone and in his place was a confident and powerful man - one who looked as though he bore the weight of worlds on his shoulders, not with a faithful wife at his side - but alone.  He was the very image of the seamen which he daydreamed his people might have been.  And seeing him like this, now, she supposed she could imagine it too. 

His line out in the water showed no sign of activity.  Isabella pulled her jacket around herself, a bit tighter than it had been because the wind picked up across the waves blowing icy sea spray up onto her.  The chill cut to her bones and she found herself moving toward her husband with an urge to hold him so strong that she considered just doing it.  Maybe they didn't need to say a word.  Maybe she could just go to him like she used to, their eyes would meet, and all the miscommunications would melt away.  The hurt would disappear and they'd be in the same place once again.  He would hold her, they would kiss... and make love.

Gavin heard the creaking of the deck and looked over his shoulder at her, her raven hair whipping all around her, occasionally a stray bit landing on her face.  For a long moment they stared at each other, but they both knew which of them would break first.  It was always Bella who found her words first in these moments.  This was a dance as old as the Wolf and Dragon themselves, prolonged silences followed by heartfelt outbursts.

Usually, these 'fights' ended with her apologizing.  Gavin was rarely the wrong-doer in their relationship.  He was a man with a simple set of rules that guided every aspect of his life and she knew them well.  When she tried to get him to bend on any of them, it always came down like this and she'd break first... beg his indulgence and receive it.  But this time she hadn't broken any rules.  She knew she had a lot to be sorry for here, maybe she had sinned in her mind at least, but a part of her pridefully couldn't bear the guilt of this rift between them.  Not alone. 

She needed Gavin to be wrong in this, too.  She needed him to own that he had been as much at fault as she was, or she could not go on facing herself in the mirror each day.  This wasn't something she could give ground on or, that's what she told herself.  Though at the moment, standing here face to face with him, she found herself wanting to scream at him how much it was killing her that he was leaving her with the only options being that she was entirely at fault or that she had to watch this thing they'd built crumble to nothing! 

But... their marriage, it meant everything and what was her pride in the face of that of losing that?  Perhaps keeping what was left of their love was worth taking the blame?  Hadn't she been willing to die for him?  For their love?  Why couldn't she make her lips move now when it mattered most of all?

Gavin turned back to look at his line in the water.

Bella came up beside him and looked down at his hand on the frigid steel rail.  Tentatively she reached out and put her warm hand protectively over his and stared off into the black abyss of night, neither seeing the path before or behind them clearly without the light of day to navigate by. 

Gavin looked down at their hands and then to Bella beside him.  She could feel his blue eyes staring at her, but she dare not turn to him for fear she'd lose all nerve to hold her tongue.  She supposed that he wasn't used to her not having the words to break down barriers between them.  He wasn't any more used to her stubbornly not giving in, than she was, and it was terrifying.  

The Wolf turned his eyes back out to the sea again and for a long while they stood that way, Bella running through the things she might say in her head but opting for none of them.  Gavin, moving only occasionally to check the line and eventually, pulling it back in all together.  After stowing the implement he walked back to her and took her by the hand. 

Wordlessly they walked together down the stairs towards the bedroom.  He opened the door and shut it behind them.  He stared at her again, as if searching for something or appraising her for the first time in ages.  He reached up then, took hold of her jacket at its opening and slid it back off her shoulders and down her arms, letting it fall to the floor. 

Again he looked at her and Bella felt exposed, though he was her husband and every bit of her was still covered.  She narrowed her eyes, wondering what he was doing.  Was this a seduction?  If so it lacked all the charisma that Gavin had so expertly used for many years, it lacked the fire and force with which he'd claimed his wife in the past, never doubting that she wanted him.

He stepped nearer to her.  His clothing radiated the cold from the sea spray that still clung to him.  He pushed a bit of hair which was matted wet to the side of her face, back behind her ear.  His eyes locking on hers as he continued to tenderly fix her hair.  Then, gingerly taking hold of the topmost pearl button on her blouse, he applied pressure to it with his thumb allowing it to slip through the tight hole which held her shirt shut.  She swallowed as he moved down to the second, and third button, trembling as the cool air in the bedroom made contact with her skin causing gooseflesh to appear.

She sucked a breath past her teeth, almost a sob really for its jerky nature made her whole body shake, as the shirt fell around her feet.  Bella decided that this was, while strange, a sort of seduction after all.  Having no way to make the words come out of her head but wanting him to hold her none the less, she began to remove his shirt as well.  He must have taken this for permission as he then bent down and kissed her cheek, innocently.  His breath like fire on her artic kissed skin.  Her heart quickened as he kissed and kissed again and her hands found the warmth of his bare chest exposed to her.  

She slipped her arms about his waist as he pulled his arms free of their sleeves and she laid her face over his heart, listening to its dependable rhythm, the feel of his time-worn scars reminding her not of his past, but the one they shared.  So many things they'd overcome, if their relationship had a body, she supposed it would have been as marked up as Gavin or her own matching core.  

He pulled back then, dropping down to nearly the ground in a squat.  His hands worked the button on her trousers but his lips continued to leave a trail of liquid fire across her flesh, burning the places where bullets and surgeon's knives had torn her open for all the world to see what no man had a right to know.  Her fingers brushed through his beautiful hair, she marveled at the silver there, contemplating her foolish notions that time had robbed them of something.  Time hadn't robbed her or Gavin.  They bore the scars, the wrinkles and lines, and silvering hair of age - war wounds from a lifetime of battles and joy beyond measure.

I didn't sleep with him.  I didn't sleep with him.  I didn't sleep with him.  Say it.  Just tell him!

Her pants came away and Gavin stood.  Bella began to tug at his belt as he reached around working the hooks on her bra.  His heat around her now, a wall against the cold of the world.  This was the place she was safest.  This was where she was happiest.  She wanted for nothing and no one so much as this and him. 

How can you not know that!?!

It was then, with that single raging thought, that Bella's hands froze in place.  Her bra came free.  She knew she must have been looking at him as he'd been looking at her a moment ago.  That thought in her mind, how did he not know?  Why didn't he know?  

He took hold of her breasts then like a boy touching a woman for the first time, carefully passing his hands over curves he had to know my memory but watching as he did so.  He was behaving like a man struggling to remember every caress.  Occasionally looking up to her eyes, as if to measure her reaction.  A mix of sad goodbye ... and uncertainty if it was attention that she wanted at all.

Bella's heart shattered at the thought of goodbye and burnt away to nothing at the thought that he ever could fear she didn't want him!  It also leaped inside of her with the hope that this meant that all of the doubt wasn't about not trusting her... but his own insecurity?

He kissed her then. 

Had their first kiss even been this gentle, so cautious?  She didn't think so.  They'd desired one another with desperation from the moment they'd entered one another's space.  That first time it had been like a smothered and guttering flame exposed to air and reignited once more.  They had combusted and burnt white hot the whole of their lives together... until they'd returned from Sicily.  Until she'd given him a son.  Until he'd stepped out of the life.  Until she'd buried herself within it.  Opposite directions for the same purpose.

Did she dare to hope that it was all this simple?  That these tiny hurts had built up to such foolishness?  Petty jealousy?  Fear of father time's price in the passing of years?  Self-doubt had brought her into that moment with Parrish ... it had opened a door to a place she never wanted to go and she'd found the strength to shut it - but she had considered it because she had begun to doubt not Gavin, but herself.  Did Gavin have the same doubts?  Why?  Because he wasn't a killer anymore?  Didn't he know she loved the father and man he'd bravely sacrificed everything to be?

He guided her to the bed as she wondered, what if he didn't?  What if Gavin doubted her desire for him because he felt the silver in his hair was as wretched as she thought the lines on her face were?  Did he feel he was as poor a protector and provider as she felt she was a wife and mother?  Could it be that while she longed for his touch on those nights he was out of town, that he longed for her on the nights she was mere miles from him in an office and unable or unwilling to walk away from those that needed her?

He laid down beside her and as she tried to roll towards him, he applied pressure to her far shoulder to urge her back to the bed.  He wanted her there, flat on her back.  This position was familiar to her... and now she knew what was happening.  As she felt his fingers begin to work, a small smile blossomed on her lips.  She met his eyes as she had not the courage to do that night atop the Sun Life building.  That night he'd insisted on her pleasure first as well, urging her to talk about the happiness that had fled from her life, to open up to him about Elias in a way that no one else could bear to hear.

Bella wet her lips.

"I'm so lonely."  She whispered her confession.  "And I feel old and unpretty... totally unworthy of the handsome, devoted husband and father waiting for me back home each night."

He bent down and put his lips to her brow as if to tell her she didn't need to speak, but Bella knew better.  Speaking first wasn't her burden, but her gift.  Gavin didn't give ground, not because he was a terrible man who could never admit fault, but because he still, after all these years, had a hard time allowing himself to be vulnerable and love-making was one of the few ways he'd figured out how to be.

"My wolf."  She cooed, closing her eyes and sucking breath past her lips with a surge of pleasure brought on by his gentle ministrations.

"You're so strong ..."  She squirmed beside him, trying to be nearer to him.  The feel of the sheets against her skin so cold that it made parts of her go so rigid that it was painful.

"... and beautiful."

She reached her hand up and put her palm onto his cheek.  His blue eyes met her own as he worked a while and she indulged in the affection he was conveyed.  That uncertainty was wavering.  She could see his pride almost peeking through as he knew he could still bring her such pleasure.  

"I love you."  She put emphasis on the you.  It was never a platitude in the Byrne household, but this wasn't said to convey her feelings... but instead to stress there was no other that was above him or even in competition with him.  

His fingers slowed as if he was hoping... or dreading what she'd say next, "We don't have to talk about this now." 

In all their years together, Gavin had never, so far as she knew lied to him.  This was as close as he'd ever come.  She could see the fear in his eyes.  He wanted this moment together - perhaps he needed it and part of her was inclined to give it to him.  But the truth was, they DID need to talk about this now.  They needed to have talked so long ago that they should have been ashamed at this point.  

Bella sat up beside Gavin, extracting herself from his grip.  She pulled up the blankets and covered their bodies, protecting them from the cold.  She drew a steadying breath.  "Louis asked me to put Parrish under our thumb."

Gavin's eyes fell, he tensed.  He was preparing for the worst, she could see it.

"I ran into him a few times, on purpose but pretending it was an accident.  I contrived situations to be in his circle... and, before I knew it, he was working for me.  Willingly.  Eagerly."  She swallowed.  "I haven't been feeling good about myself.  I suppose that's why I didn't see what was happening.  I didn't think someone as young and influential as him would look twice at an older woman like me.  I saw him as a friend.  A younger, exciting friend with whom I could laugh easier than I did at home.  Not because I was unhappy... but... we've been so distant you and I."

She brushed a hand down Gavin's cheek, causing him to look up at her.  She could see the pain growing in his eyes, warring with the anger there, maybe more at himself than her she couldn't say but for the first time ever she didn't feel the look was meant for her.  His blue eyes and their daggers didn't bite deep as they usually did in these moments where she was explaining herself.  Instead, she wondered if the edge was pointed inward.

"He tried to kiss me."  She admitted.  "But I pulled away..."

Gavin narrowed his eyes, as if surprised or confused.

"I told him that he misunderstood my intentions.  I had to be gentle, Louis needed him still, or I would have slapped him.  Fuck, maybe even thrown him off a ship out in the ocean with cinder blocks secured to his ankles... but I ... I couldn't.  Every time I had to be in a room with him, I felt guilty for enjoying it.  But... he wasn't giving up. He was persistent and for a while, it was subtle enough I could ignore it, but..."

"He didn't hurt you did he?"  Gavin found his voice, assuming he knew where this was going, fearing that the lawyer had forced himself on her.  She could see the rage and guilt caused in him by even the fleeting thought.

"No."  Bella insisted, brushing his cheek gently.  "No... no.  He never.  We never.  It never even got close to that, Gavin."

"But you said it was subtle ... for a while?"

Bella nodded.  "It's why we're here.  I assumed you slept on the sofa cause you found the roses in my office that he sent me."

He nodded, she could see the wheels turning behind his eyes,  "So that's why?  You ... you were angry at him for making me think that you'd had an affair?  You didn't do it because you were trying to hide things, you had him killed cause he hurt us?"

"Wait?  He's dead?!?"  She said confused.

Gavin sat up.  "You didn't send him the poisoned wine?"

"What wine?  I sent Neil to deliver the message that if he kept chasing me he'd end up in a grave because... well... because I had to go deal with my father coming into town to tell me about..."  Her mind stopped as abruptly as if she'd hit a wall at full speed.  Their conversation came back to her mind.  

"Neil wouldn't kill him without your say so, not like that at least."

"I know it sounds crazy..." Bella admitted.  "... but, I was drinking with my father and I may have admitted to the pickle I found myself in with Parrish.  I think it was my dad.  He must have killed him."

"Poison doesn't sound like Salvatore's style, plus... there was something more personal about this."  

"How so?"

"Viacelli vineyards.  Vintage was the year of our visit to Sicily."

Bella smiled softly.  "It was definitely my dad then.  Damn.  Louis is probably fit to be tied over losing an ADA... I'll have to make it up to him and explain it all when I get back."

"Nah.  I'll explain that I did it and why."  

Bella blinked, "Why would you do that?"

"I was going to do it... but, Sal saved me the trouble.  No sense in pissing Louis off at Seattle when it would have been me anyway."  Bella finally saw what Gavin looked like when he realized he'd fucked up.  Some part of her thought to be amused, but instead, she just wanted him to let go of any frustration he had at himself.  "Besides, it'll give me a chance to let him know I'm coming back to work."

"Gavin?"  She hesitated in telling him all the things she felt in that moment as her thoughts conflicted and she feared she might regret any number of the things she wanted to say.

"The kids needed me before... but Aurora's ditching her bodyguards.  It won't be long before William starts to follow suit in his own way... the kids don't need me hovering like a mother hen at home and I'm going crazy.  I miss being on the streets.  I miss being with you more than I can tell you."

Bella smiled and leaned down to kiss him.  This time, he returned her kisses with the fire she knew so well.  Their bodies slide into the familiar motions they'd gone through so many times in the past with practiced ease. 

As the night dragged on, Bella nearly forgot there had ever been any space between them at all.  He was with her again.  It was going to be new, and different, but in many ways, it would be as if Gavin had never left at all.  The world had changed, but the Dragon had her Wolf still.  And everything around them could burn away to ashes, so long as that remained true.