Aurora flopped onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling.  The silence here was so different than what she was used to at home.  Hollowood was full of people, constantly.  Bodyguards, her parents, Will and his friends, gangsters coming and going looking for her mother's favor or needing to report this or that. 

Here.  There was nothing and no one.  Just her and the silence.

Turning her head towards her bookshelf she considered picking up something to read, for fun this time not for studies, she was caught up at the moment... and worst of all, she was bored.  Back home she knew all the places to find a bit of fun.  Philadelphia was a city alive with speakeasies and underground clubs she had no business going to but had been visiting for the better part of two years now, she hadn't connected with the locals the way she had back home.  Maybe nothing would ever compare to South Philly?  

She sighed.

For a moment she considered hopping a train home for the weekend, but her mother and father would drop their plans and feel they needed to spend time with her and she didn't want to be underfoot.  What fun would that be?  It wasn't like they'd let her spend a moment alone if she was home for a visit... worst of all they'd assume something was wrong if she made an unscheduled visit.

She frowned.

There was always Seattle.  She could go visit her father Salvatore Luciano.  Granted, he'd be on the phone the moment she arrived and telling her mom and that would be no better than if she just bit the bullet and road a train home to visit mom herself.  

For a long while she let her mind wander aimlessly and as her stomach growled, demanding lunch, a memory came back to her.  A memory of a lunch date she never got to have - but one that she still desired.  Maybe more so now than before.  A smile grew on her face and a moment later she was up, grabbing her bolt-bag from under her bed and heading to her door.

Tiny and Tim had served as her mother's bodyguards and then her own when she was an infant.  Now, thanks to Salvatore Luciano, the two older men were in her service again.  She smiled at them as she emerged from her apartment.  They were standing outside smoking and talking about something they clearly didn't want to share as they went silent at the sight of her.

She said nothing to them but walked confidently to the car they drove her around in, knowing they'd follow.  Her door came open and she climbed into the backseat saying, "Take me to the airport."

Without question, they did as they were told and inside an hour she was on a plane to the Detroit Metro Airport.  Upon landing, she instructed Tiny to get a car and asked Tim, "My father's home... I assume it was taken by whoever took over the city?"

"Burnt to the ground, Miss."  Tim lamented.  "The grave of a lot of good men.  I would have been one of them if your father hadn't sent me to protect you."

"My mother... does she have a home here?"

Aurora had never seen Tim become uncomfortable before, never seen him hesitate to tell her anything but this, this gave him pause.  

"Tim?"

"Two." He admitted.  "Though one isn't in the city really... it's in another city an hour away."

"Inhabited?"  She asked.

He shook his head no.  "She gave the keys to the Tower to DiCaprio boy I think... that's the rumor at least.  He's still back in the old country.  The other... well, I figure that your fathers are the only people in the world who know about the other house."

Aurora smiled.

"That's where we'll be staying then."

Tim nodded. "You mind if I ask what we're doing in a city that's not held by any of your blood family - a place your parents have very little ties to these days?"

"Mom's got a restaurant here... right?"  

He nodded.

"Make sure when we go to eat we go ANYWHERE but there."

"Yes, Ma'am but surely we didn't come all the way to Detroit for the food?"

She patted her bodyguard's cheek as the other came back holding a set of keys.

"Find me a watering hole, Tim.  I'll tell you what we're doing over a proper Gin Rickey ... somewhere in Corktown."

The old man shook his head and chuckled at the mischievous youth, still not understanding what she was up to yet, "Whatever you want, Miss Byrne."

"Thanks for your help, hon."  Aurora slipped a five dollar bill to the very drunk old man and slid off the bar stool, planning to walk back to the table where Tiny and Tim were waiting.  Instead, she found herself stopping as a barrel-chested man blocked her path.

She slowly looked up from his chest to his fat face scowling at her.  A devil-may-care smirk quirked at the corner of her lips, one she was totally unaware looked exactly like her father's rather trademarked grin.  

"What's a little girl doing in a place like this asking dangerous questions about people she's got no right talkin' bout?"  He asked in a thick Sicilian accent.

Aurora over-acted out the process of looking left and right before saying, "I don't see any little girls in here, Friend.  Now if you'll excuse me," She started to walk around him, knowing that he wasn't going to allow it.  

As soon as his sausage fingers closed around her shoulder with a "Hey! I'm talkin' to you..." she looked pointedly at his hand and her smile melted.  

"You have two heartbeats to let me go."  She whispered for his ears alone.  

The man scoffed the instant before he was violently slammed down onto the bar by Tiny on one side and Tim on the other.  People in the room backed away, some women screamed in an overly-dramatic fashion and it took all the strength she had inside not to roll her eyes.  She hated women who played the damsel in distress but clearly weren't.

Aurora smoothed out her blouse, confident that Tiny and Tim weren't letting the goon go anytime soon.  She could almost hear the man's skull straining under their weight and the solid construction of the cherry-colored bar.  

"Folks, we don't need no trouble here..."  The bartender began to try to defuse the situation but Aurora ignored him.  Sweeping aside the glasses in front of her she vaulted her bottom up onto the bar and looked down on the fellow.

"In fairness, I did warn you."  She said to the man.  Then she looked out into the room and waved over a waitress.  It took a few times but the woman, just a bit older than herself, came over.  

"Can I get you something?"  The woman stammered.

"Yes."  Aurora said, ignoring the grunts of the man beside her, struggling to be free of her goons.  "I need your ink pen."

The waitress gave over her pen and Aurora leaned down to look at the man in the eyes.

"You know Billy Mastrosimone?  You can walk into his office without getting shot?"  She asked politely as if the man wasn't being crushed mercilessly by her guys.

"You fucking..."

Aurora slapped the man's face leaving a stinging red mark.  

"LANGUAGE!"  She scolded.  "There are ladies here... and if there is anything friends of ours do, it's respect women and children... right?  See, I should thank you... your concern for me being here and your worry for your boss was a real big help to me.  It let me know who I was dealing with, all without us having to carry on some really long drawn out verbal dance of 'does he' or 'does she' know what we're not allowed to talk about!"

She chuckled.

"You're..."  He began.

Aurora leaned close to the man's face and purred, "Questa cosa era la mia area di gioco, amico. Il mio sangue è il sangue dei Padrini - Lucania, Byrne, Luciano. Attraversami a tuo rischio. Ora rispondi alla mia domanda, grasso bastardo, prima che i miei ragazzi decidano di estrarre manualmente le risposte dalla tua testa."

The man blinked.  No one would make a claim like that, without it being true.

"I can get to him."  He admitted.

She sat back up and smiled as if nothing was wrong again.  "Good!  Stand him up boys."

Tiny and Tim held him up to his full height and Aurora waved him forward.  The goons brought him close and she, in pen, wrote a message on his forehead that he could not see.

"Because I don't trust you not to fuck up the message... just go to him.  Like this.  I'm sure he'll have questions for you."  

The man winced as the point of the pen pushed hard into his skin, turning a living breathing man into her literal message for the Don of Corktown.

"There."  She said with a satisfied smile, handing the pen back to the waitress and hopping off the bar.  "Now, go.  And don't dally.  Trust me, if he doesn't get this message... there crew in Detroit who won't learn about how a 'little girl' got the better of you and we'll see what impact that has on your future."  

The man scowled. 

It's nearly dinner.  Hungry?  ☼

Aurora winked and walked back to the table with Tiny and Tim.

Charlie tapped Billy on the shoulder and Billy whipped around. He was just talking with a guy named Tiny. Tiny was, in fact, tiny. He was the guy that could squeeze under most of the cars in the shop and get the undercarriage done without having to put the thing up on blocks. Solid work too. But when Billy turned around his smile immediately faded.

"Venusto, what the fuck happened to your face man?"

Vinny didn't pick his eye up off the ground.

"Hey, uh boss, can we, ya know talk in private or somethin' not in front o' the guys ya know?"

Billy looked around the floor a couple of guys had noticed, but most of them were hard at work, so he brought Vinny upstairs and got him a beer.

"Looks like you slept in and your wife left you a cute message Vin. You shoulda washed that off before ya came in. I wouldn't a been mad at ya, you know that."

Vinny shook his head as he took the beer and drank some. It was still cold, and he knew he could get one anytime he wanted, but there was a big difference between asking for one, and the boss handing you one. It just tasted better.

"Not my wife Boss, some dumb cunt that you..."

The air left him and he almost upchucked the entire contents of his stomach. He could feel Billy's hand on his shoulder steadying him and feel the boss' breath in his ear.

"Let's try again Vin huh? We don't call women that, we don't call men that, we don't call nobody that."

Vinny took a few labored breaths as he stumbled into a chair.

"Sorry boss, but ya see what she did ta me!?"

"And I still don't understand why you didn't wash it off Vin."

Vinny sighed heavily and then looked at Billy in the eye for the first time.

"She said it was a message for you boss. I was not real happy she was askin questions about you so I got up to stop her, and she had these goons with her. She said she was some godfather's kid, Lucania, Byrne, and Luciano was the names."

Billy patted Vinny on the back.

"Alright guy, go wash up, I'll take care of it. And do me a favor, let me handle people talking about me, I don't pay you enough to get your ass kicked, I would feel bad if somethin' happened to you. Just tell me where you met her."

Vinny described some tiny hole in the wall bar in Corktown. Billy knew exactly the place. Old man Andy was a regular there, and by regular Billy thought the guy lived at the place. So, Billy  let Vinny go get washed up and he made his way to the bar.

She was easy to spot from a mile away. Helped that she looked like her mother and was flanked by two giant guys, but hey Billy wasn't going to complain.

"Miss Byrne, I suppose I have you to thank for roughing up one of my guys. You know, he's gonna have to explain to his wife why he smells like some other woman now right? He's a good man Vinny."

He put his hand out for her to shake.

Aurora nodded away from herself and Tiny and Tim both got up and left the table with a mumbled word of respect for Billy, "Don."

The men didn't leave the bar, but they were well out of earshot.  In front of her, Aurora had the same glass of gin she'd been nursing for hours though she'd paid for it and then some in tips she'd slipped the waitresses.

"Tiny and Tim just wanted to make sure he remembered not to put hands on a lady again.  I mean, the next one might not have protection like I do ... and what then?"  She smirked taking his hand and shaking it, making note that he was keeping himself at more of a distance than last time both with his language and now with his bodily contact.  It wasn't the first time that someone who knew her parents kept themselves at a safe distance from her and so she wasn't offended.  Just aware.

Aurora had come to accept that with some aspects of her life, all she could do was observe and be aware.  Trying to change people, in her limited experience, was a fool's errand.  People only ever changed when and if they wanted to.  She could protest and pout about people fearing & respecting her parents all she wanted, but it never made a lick of difference as to how they treated her.  At least not in the way she wanted.  Either people warmed to her on their own and came to relax about her parents' possible reactions... or they didn't. 

"We can stay here a while and order drinks if you like... well, you can order drinks.  Me, I'll probably be switching to soda after this gin.  I've been working on it since I got here and generally speaking, I don't drink unless it's a special occasion, but I don't mind if you want to."

Once Billy had watched the two guys walk away and shaken Aurora's hand he sat down. Not across from her as should be the custom, but right next to her instead. And he kept his voice low enough so that only they two would hear. He made the difference in height and weight very much apparent as he sat far too close for anyone to be comforatble.

"I wonder what your two boys would do if I put hands on a lady in here. I mean, I'm no goomba, so I can say this much. I doubt they would make it halfway across the room before Andy whipped out some kind of blunt instrument and the barkeep pulled his shotgun on them. Wanna find out?"

He picked up both of his hands as if to grab her and then smiled before getting up and putting himself on the side of the table he was suppose to be on. He liked being cozy with folks. He doubted very much that Tiny or Tim like him being too cozy with Aurora.

"You have any idea what kind of risk you took coming to see a mobster that happened to know someone you knew? Pretty big one if you ask me."

He looked back at the bar and here came the waitress with his whiskey.

"Thank you Genevieve." He gave the woman a twenty, she smiled like she always did and flipped her hair before walking away. Billy never did understand why she did that, only that she did. 

"Let me have this one drink and then we can go get food. In the mean time, you can either ask me what you came to ask me, or, you can make small talk. I'm not great at small talk, but I can try."

He raised his glass and took a sip from it.

Aurora was caught off guard as he sat down beside her.  The few times in her life that she'd EVER been surprised by someone were horrible disasters that ended tragically.  The sorts of moments that were as far from her mind at this moment as anything could possibly be.  

I wonder what your two boys would do if I put hands on a lady in here.

Her heart quickened as she wondered what exactly he meant and imagined she might know... and while the thought thrilled her, it also scared the hell out of her.  She barely even spoken to him!  He was handsome, and she'd planned to flirt with him but this was far faster than she'd expected things to go.  She figured she'd be well into her second glass of wine at dinner before she worked up the courage to try to elicit such words from him if only for laughs!   

Suddenly Aurora felt nervous, awkward and something she hadn't felt much in her life, small.  Billy was a good deal larger than her in both body and position within the mafia.  She wasn't even a wise guy and seated so near to him now, all those realities came crashing down on her.  As he continued talking about what others in the room might do in reaction to any moves he'd make the thoughts of flirting flittered out of her mind, replaced by thoughts that maybe he was trying to drive home a point.  Maybe, just maybe, he wanted to her to think about the 'danger' she'd put herself in as well as the possible consequences ...

Aurora tried not to get angry.  Billy didn't know her from Job himself.  Billy couldn't guess at the life she'd led.  To him, she was the spunky and foolish little girl of a bunch of powerful people he knew and he probably thought it was a kindness towards her family to be 'scaring her straight.' 

As galling as it was, and as much as she wanted to tell him that she could protect herself as he stood up and went to the seat across from her, she knew better than to reveal how capable she was to anyone - even allies.  It was far better folks assumed that she relied on her goons.  Safer for herself and for them too.  So, instead of letting herself run off at the mouth, she picked up the gin and finished it.

"I'm not here to give you an interrogation," She decided since he was keeping to formalities she should too, "Don Mastrosimone."

She put her glass down.

"I was just in town visiting.  I thought I'd offer to join you for dinner as a friend.  I am not offended in the slightest if you have other important matters that you need to attend to.  I did come unannounced after all and you can't be expected to spend your time entertaining goombas.  You certainly don't need to stay and endure any small talk."

She chuckled.  The thought of him being anything BUT a guy who liked talking to people was something she couldn't imagine.  He struck her as warm and friendly.  And she never thought of herself as a bad judge of character.  It was possible she was wrong, but she didn't think so.  Not this time.  Anyone who would go out of his way to not just scold her but use his own presence to teach her a thing or two about the type of danger that existed in this life ... no, he was a man of character and heart.

"I'll just ask my guys to take me to get a bite to eat, visit the Tower, my mother's home by the lake, and then be on my way come morning light as planned.  Heck, maybe I'll take in a picture show, if I can find someone willing to go out with me.  It's a big city, I'm sure even with my guys hanging about I'll find someone who has the courage to befriend me and keep me company for just a few hours tonight.  You needn't worry at all.  I promise."

Then she added, "And I do apologize for roughing up your man.  It won't happen again."

Billy frowned at how stiff and off put Aurora had gotten.

"Hey, relax, it was a joke. Vinny will be fine, no harm no foul. Now don't call me anything but Billy for God's sake. I can't stand that crap. I don't take it from my guys and I won't take it from a girl I like neither."

He sipped at his whiskey a bit more while deciding where he wanted the conversation to go.

"Alright so here's my deal. I'll pay for dinner, and I'll even pay for your guys to go to a moving picture show with us, but they gotta stay back, or get involved in the conversation. I'm not alright with having these guys I don't know follow me around close enough to hear everything I'm saying, but not talk to me. How's that sound Aurora?"

He finished his whiskey then and put the empty glass down on the table.

"By the way, you're the first Aurora I've ever seen. But I heard they are real pretty, and you've got that going for you kid so if you live up to the rest of what your family can do, you can pretty much do anything you want. So you give any thought to what that might be?"

"Well, Billy, I have some conditions of my own.  First,"  She reached across the table and took Billy's whiskey and sipped it, wincing after she swallowed.  "God, did they make that with lighter fluid?"

She laughed letting her smile touch her eyes.

"Okay... I am not a girl, kid, kiddo, squirt, sport, or any other term of childlike endearment.  I'm happy to have time alone with you... but not if you're going to view it as you babysitting for my parents.  Alright?  You're Billy.  I'm Aurora... Rory or Rora if you like cause my friends tend to call me those and I'd like to think we can be friends."

"As for them..."  She motioned to Tiny and Tim.  "They're job is to keep me alive and stay out of my way.  They are not to judge anything I do or become involved with unless my life is in danger.  They will stay well away from us cause they value their lives and those are the terms of their employment." 

She chuckled.

"As to what I want to do... I'm not quite sure yet.  My plans in the immediate are pretty simple... work my ass off at Vassar, graduate early if possible, and keep up with my extracurricular activities outside of my collegiate career in academia in the meantime.  I've been giving thought to traveling after I get my degree.  My Aunt Tara has been all over the Pacific and European countries these past ten years or so... I'd love to see some of the places she's written to me about."

She looked at him a long while, "So, is Billy short for William then?  My brother's name is William, though he hates the name Billy."

Billy smiled and finished his whiskey.

"Nope, not lighter fluid."

He leaned back against the booth they sat in straining it against himself before continuing.

"Might call you kid on accident, but not cause you're a kid. Just cause you're short. Everyone's short to me but I'll try my best Rora. But no, just Billy, it's not short for nothin' my mom wasn't  book smart so I got a simple name."

He lowered his eyes at Aurora then.

"Vassar a college? Sounds like a college. So you're gonna go to college, and then go off and explore the whole world and see what there is to see."

Billy pulled out a c-note and slapped it onto the table. He lifted all but his index finger off of it.

"That says you don't come back again except for weddings and funerals."

He smiled and stood up.

"You ok with sitting down at a diner? There's a place around the corner I haven't visited in a while. Run by a real nice family. I think they are Greek. Foods good, not fancy, but good."

She wanted to tell him that simple names were good.  They let you fade into the background and not be noticed.  Being someone who grew up in a spotlight, she knew the value of being able to fade into the background when you needed to - but she didn't.  He was a Don.  Surely not the sort of man who liked not being seen.  You had to have the drive to get where he was, no one landed there by accident.

"Vassar is a college and I'll take that bet."  She said warmly.  "So set a date upon which time we'll revisit the topic to see if you're paying me or if I'm paying you."

She stood up from the booth just after him.  

"I'd love to check out a diner.  I don't need fancy.  Just something to silence the grumbling that's been going on since I left New York earlier today."  She watched Tiny and Tim standing up.  "Give me a second, would ya?"  

She darted over to the guys and from where Billy was standing he could see them talking quietly with her, nodding in agreement.  A moment later she was rejoining him.  "They'll shadow ... very distant like.  You won't even know they're around.  They're not slouches.  I promise."

She put her arm into his to let him lead the way.

"So... the million dollar question.  The one I'm dying to know.  Did you ever have the chance to meet Marie?  I've heard so much about her from a dozen different people and I always learn something new." 

She talked as they walked together.

"I don't want you to think I'm overly sentimental.  It's not that at all.  I mean, I honestly don't remember her.  I was too little I guess... but it seems unfair to her that I know so little about her when everyone else is still here.  So... I like to give her a fair shake to be a part of my world.  If that makes sense?"

Billy shook his head as they made their way down the street.

"I didn't even know my dad was involved with her to be honest. I only found out after one associate of theirs that survived sent me my watch and my dad's journal. After that I made my way to Philly to see your mom. She was my first lead. It's been a while now and my own life kinda got in the way, but I've got far enough that I can piece it all together." 

He gave Rora a real look for once. Not a passing glance, but a hard look. Right there in the middle of the street right in front of the diner.

"You know what. You play your cards right and I'll let you take a look at my dad's journal though and learn what you can. Probably not tonight cause it's real special to me. Soon though if you keep making unexpected dinner dates."

He opened the diner door for her, and continued to hold it for her men before stepping into the warmth himself.

As soon as he stepped inside Nick walked up to him and the two men hugged.

"Billy! My best customer, how you been? I no see you weeks now, you know what that mean?"

Billy nodded and smiled.

"Means you've still got food in the kitchen for now!"

Both men guffawed. It was clearly something they had worked up between them for some time. Almost immediately Billy and Aurora found themselves in a corner booth with a pair of salads and a cup of Minestrone soup for each of them.

"Oh, I should warn you. Don't bother with a menu, the chef is Nick's cousin. His name is Mendros and he always cooks up something special when I show up."

"Journal or no ... I'll keep coming so long as you don't run me off.  I got few enough places that I like visiting.  It would be nice to have another."  She folded her hands in front her as they walked in.

Aurora had been dining with Dons and Godfathers since she was nursing from her mother's breasts.  She was used to special treatment like quality seating and chefs who felt the need to cook off the menu for her.  In truth, it was more of a shock to go into a place and not get that kind of treatment, but she was also raised to be gracious so she gave Billy a reassuring grin when he brought up the lack of need to use a menu.  For a man who was new to such prestige and power, she supposed it was a great thrill and she wouldn't make less of it by bragging about her many blessings.

She didn't take long to dig into the soup and salad, not hesitating for prayer or feeling the need to fain dainty.  Aurora was normally quite comfortable in her own skin and never felt the need to give pretense otherwise.  Instead, she focused on her food for a few moments before bringing her attention back to her companion.

"Do you have any pictures of your father?"  She asked him.  "I only ask because my mother was able to save some photos from Marie's home.  I am sure there is at least one of him.  I'd be happy to bring it with me next time I visit.  My mom..." 

She hesitated, realizing how easily this conversation could become confusing if she didn't clarify,  "For the sake of both our sanity, assume if I'm saying mom I mean Isabella.  As the woman who raised me, I really can only think of her as my mother.  I'll say, Marie, if that's who I mean... it's much the same for if I'm speaking about my father verses speaking about Salvatore."

She wondered if Salvatore was a sore subject for him, or if it wasn't a big deal simply because he didn't know his father just as she hadn't known Marie.  "Anyway... my mom thought very highly of your father.  I understand he pulled a fast one on Marie to help her out one time and she never forgot it."

Aurora paused to eat another bite of soup and after she swallowed she spoke again, "So you were raised by your mother then?"

Billy looked confused as Aurora described what she knew of her father.

"I didn't read anything about that in his journal. In fact he goes into his job very little and goes into more how he felt about people. My dad liked a lot of people. He loved a few of them. He loved my mom, and always sent her money to keep us happy and safe."

Billy clearly pained to think of his mother for the moment.

"She died. But yeah, she raised me. I think her and my dad just kind of drifted apart after a while. He was real smart, and she was uh... she liked to drink a lot."

Billy put on his best smile as Nick brought over a whole salmon and placed it on the table between them. He smiled and squeezed a couple of lemons over it before walking around the restaurant and seeing to his other guests.

"Well that looks real good!"

Billy tried to change the subject but his brain was caught now.

"I know dad never cheated on my mom, but I also know he loved your mom and Marie as much as he loved her. So I decided early on to get to know your mom and treat her like my own. I also decided to find out who killed my dad."

He let that last hang in the air. He still hadn't figured that out yet, but he was getting closer. He just lost his leads for now was all.

His mother was addicted to alcohol!  Many people suffered from that affliction.  Her own mother had always had a love of booze, but Isabella had a good sense of when to stop, or at least she did a good job of hiding her worst bouts with the bottle.  Aurora had only ever seen her drunk once or twice and considering the circumstances, she could hardly blame the woman.  Billy's abrupt change in mood indicated his mother lacked her own mother's restraint.

She wanted to say something, but when he quickly changed the topic, she let the moment pass.  William was better with these sorts of things.  Hell, most everyone else was better at that sort of thing than she was.  Her classes, her guns, her knives, and fists... these were easy to understand.  People were a bit more complex.  Perhaps it was why she was always in fights during grade school, while William was the most popular with both kids and adults alike.  She sometimes wondered if her brother got his passing grades based on actual work or if he was just so well liked that no one would ever dare fail him.

"It does."  She agreed about the Salmon, taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent as Billy kept on talking.

Aurora paused at the news that Lordian loved her mother.  That Billy viewed Isabella in such a way.  It almost buried the fact that Billy didn't seem to know how his father died... though she couldn't imagine how that was even possible.  Didn't Lordian die when Marie died?  Did she have misinformation?  She dare not speak to that now lest she hurt Billy with her ignorance.  

She supposed Bella, like her younger brother William, had many admirers.  People loved her and men had gladly died for her.  Yet the way Billy spoke of her felt different somehow.  It occurred to her then, that while she'd observed people's devotion to Bella, she'd never before heard someone tell her that they felt so strongly for her - outside of her father on the rarest of occasions.

"Love?"  Aurora spoke the word as if she were saying it for the first time.  The way someone trying to speak a language they don't know sounds.  She very seldom had said it herself.  As recently as two years ago was the last time she could recall mentioning the word... and that had been a very bad night indeed. 

She took a bit of the salmon onto her plate.

"I had no idea she and your father were so close."  She said softly. 

Though I suppose she's never had any reason to mention it to me.

She picked at the fish, lost in thought, trying to decide what she might say that wouldn't destroy what very-well could be a great night.

"For what it's worth, I think my mother would be flattered to know you think so fondly of her." 

Aurora finally decided this was a safe thing to comment on in a minefield of bad topics. 

"I know she cares a great deal about you as well.  She's certainly said a lot of very kind things about you."

The fish flaked apart as her fork passed through it.  It really was expertly cooked and Aurora found herself surprised such fine food really had come from a local diner.

"You know, sometimes I find myself wishing I had my mother or my Aunt's gift for conversation.  Sad truth is that I'm more terse, like my dad." 

She looked up and met his eyes for what felt like the first time.  She held his gaze a moment, before saying, "Since we both aren't the best at small talk... how do you feel about games?"

Bill was about to make a comment about them being a good pair, and then Aurora reminded him that he was not good at small talk. He realized he should stick to the things he knew and not insert himself into her life any more than she wanted him there.

"Just to be clear, I don't think they were that close at all. From what I can tell my father admired and respected your mother. They never got close, but he would have done anything for her if she asked. Like a sister almost. Like real family."

He took a piece of salmon for himself. It was covered in a lemon butter sauce and lightly fried so the skin was crispy. It was delicious, at least to Billy it was. Rora seemed to like it too so he smiled.

"Games in a minute though, because I've only even spoken to your mother a handful of times, so what exactly has she said?"

Aurora's smile became a little playful as she hesitated telling him what her mother had to say about him. 

"It's horrible isn't it?" 

She could barely hold in her chuckle while she chewed her salmon. 

"Knowing people talk about you when you're not there?"  

She shook her head clearly indicating she was giving in.

"Okay okay... let's see she said, and I'll try to quote here as best I can."  She wet her lips and thought for a moment.  "I remember her talking with Dad about you.  This was back when you were asking for Kenzi to come to Detroit.  My Dad had been out of this thing of ours for a bit... raising us you know?  Anyway, Mom was filling him in on who you were and said that she thought you had Lordian's good sense, but you were ten times as bold as your old man.  She felt Kenzi would be a good help to you because you were similar in some ways... I think she was praising you on being quick to help friends even in the face of danger."

She smiled and picked up her glass of water to drink.

"You shouldn't worry about what my mother thinks of you though, it's a pretty rare person in this world that my mother hates.  Honestly, in all my life I can only think of a handful of people she's ever disliked actively... she's just one of those people that looks for the best in folks.  People call her a dragon, but she's not at all like that.  Not really.  Her temper is like her gun, a tool, nothing more.  The real woman, outside of the Cosa Nostra, she's got the biggest heart of anyone I know."

Aurora's gaze became distant and unfocused before she added matter-of-factly, "She and my father have had a good run.  It'll be hard to say goodbye when this life finally catches up with them."

Billy took a drink of water and waited as patiently as he could while Aurora told him of her mother's words. When she finished he let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding in.

"Isn't that why people should be concerned? Not so much for what she does say that's nice, but for the small quirks she mentions. If she really is looking for the best in people, when she does find something wrong with them that that must be a serious flaw."

And that was about as wise as Billy was bound to get for today. So instead he took another drink of water and then smiled.

"So what was this game you had in mind?"

Aurora was stunned to silence at Billy's simple wisdom.  She hadn't thought about it that way before.  Her mother's critiques of her father, as rarely as she had them, were always spot on.  This, of course, gave her pause.  How many things had her mother said about her that she had dismissed utterly?

"You know... maybe we don't need a game to get to know each other after all.  For two people who suck at talking we're doing pretty good after all."

She took a bite of her fish and swallowed before speaking again.

"Besides, it's pretty juvenile now that I think about it.  Even if I did end up taking a few jerks for a couple hundred bucks the last time I sat down and played it with the fellas back in Philly, it's um... not really all that good of a game."

She leaned back in the seat, relaxing a bit, letting her food settle.

"So, what do you do for fun?  Or what did you do back when you had free time... before becoming a Don, I mean, other than making money?"

Billy did not want to let the game go, and Aurora had mentioned money on top of it, so he was doubly curious. She pushed in though so that would have to wait for the time being.

"Fine, we can play your game on our next date."

He paused mid bite. That's not what he meant. That had come out wrong and he could feel the heat moving up into his face. He did the only thing he could think to and he finished his water.

"For fun? Um... I mean I play at the casinos and dice tables whenever I can. I like the thrill of the winning and losing. And it certainly doesn't hurt that I win more often than not."

He looked toward his now empty glass and suddenly there was a waiter pouring him a new one. He nodded his thanks and drank some more.

"How about you? You're still in school so I don't imagine you have much time to yourself."

He reached for another piece of fish, it was disappearing faster than he realized. Billy was always a fast eater, but it seemed like Rora was doing her part to help as well which was nice to see.