Aurora was laughing.  Her smile touched her eyes.  Clearly, she was having a great time, she seemed more relaxed than she'd been every time they'd been together in the past.  There seemed to be less concerned with making a mistake and was actually enjoying herself.

"Well, I'm not exactly made of glass you know.  I started boxing when I was about four.  I've been knife fighting since seven.  I shot my first gun at ten.  I could take down a grown man with my bare hands by the time I was thirteen."  She shrugged.  "I've taken a serious punch from my father before... no, not like he was trying to hurt me, we were sparring and it was an accident that he got me good, but really, I'm tough."

She glanced at him and gave him a look at suggested a great fondness for him, "Really.  You won't hurt me.  And..."  She looked back to the road.  "Soft touches have their place I suppose.  There are moments where a softer touch makes sense.  But, sometimes a woman just likes to know that she's in the arms of someone who will can keep her safe and I feel that when I'm with you.  I mean... not that I need you to protect me, but it's nice to know you could and would when it comes to that sorta thing."

For a moment they were quiet.  She could feel his eyes lingering on her again.

"So... you've never... not anything?  Just kissing then?" She glanced at him and then looked back to the road.

"Hmm.  Perhaps my mother should have been protecting you from me."  She smirked as they entered the city limits.  "Well, don't worry.  I may not have a road map to the later parts... I do know my way around a few things and who knows, maybe you can set the stakes for a game of dice tonight and try to win yourself a lesson or two."

She gave him a wink.

"That is, if you're not totally committed to that plan of having me sent off to a nunnery."

Billy shook his head hard. Just thinking about what she was talking about was getting him flustered in his head. The one thing he knew about dice was, no matter the stakes, as soon as you lose your cool, that's when you are screwed.

"I'm not the one who thought you should go there. I was just thinking that's what your mom was gonna do."

He was watching the buildings pass by through the window. It had been a while since he drove through the city. Normally it was plane, subway, destination. Maybe a walk for a bit in there somewhere. New York was not the city to drive in.

He lowered his voice a bit for a minute and became very solemn. Not like Billy at all in almost every way.

"Rora. I don't want to put that kinda stuff on dice, or on me being charming, or you being two sheets, or anything like that. If we're good with each other, I don't want to have other stuff be the reason we are. I really like you, a whole bunch. I would spend time with you every day if I could but I got a lot of other shit to do, so I steal time when I can. I just... I want our time to be fun and happy and not full of fighting or fumbling around anymore. That's all really."

He looked at the street signs as they passed by them. He didn't know how high the numbers actually went, but they were still in the hundred's at the moment.

"Do you actually know where there is a French place, or are you just gonna drive until you find one? Whatever you do, don't you dare fucking take me to The Bronx for this shit."

She smiled at Billy, "I like us a lot better when we're not fumbling around.  And as for the betting, of course, we won't play games like that - you really don't have need of them anyway.  If you haven't figured it out yet, all you ever had to do was ask because ... well, I like you too."

She turned onto another street.  "Of course I know where we're going.  We're headed to Le Veau D’or in Manhattan.  It's on 60th and Lexington near the central park zoo.  I figured we could go for a walk there later if you wanted?"

She listened to his stomach growl and sighed.  "You know what..."  Aurora pulled into a parking spot on the side of the street.  She turned towards Billy.

"Let's just get out and walk to the closest restaurant.  I may be over-dressed but you're starving and you know what... I didn't wear this dress for anyone else but you so screw anyone who doesn't like it.  What do you say?  It'll be an adventure!"  As she said the last bit, her eyes lit up, as if something childlike within her was peaking out.  Something of what he saw at her family's house the day she first introduced herself.  It was a thing of mischief and pure reckless joy.

Billy took the opportunity without saying a single word. He was pretty sure it was his stomach that made the decision, but before he knew it he was out of the car and running around to open Aurora's door.

"Listen, If you want French food, we can always eat again later. I'm never far away from eating a meal, but we just drove for I don't know how long, I'll make it up to ya soon, promise."

He smiled and held out his hand for her to get out of the car.

"You hold onto the keys, in case you want to drive home later. As for a walk, I actually really like walking. I prefer walking to driving to be honest, it's just that, well, driving is safer for a man in my position. It sucks though. I used to walk everywhere."

He took her hand in the crook of his arm and began down the street letting her do the looking for a restaurant while he was doing the looking at folks who did the looking at his girl.

Aurora hung onto Billy's arm and felt like she was floating.  People were looking at them, obviously.  She was dressed to the nines in a very short skirt and was a demure woman.  He was a man with the body of a fucking bear.  They were opposites and yet, somehow, it worked.

"So... you know I know very little about Marie Lucania... I was kinda hoping that journal of your dad's might have told you a little about her.  About how she meet your dad and how they came to be in Chicago.  Would it be okay if we talk about Marie and Lordian for a bit?  I don't want to stop you from checking out my legs,"  She chuckled, "But every time we get together for a date someone it seems like people are either trying to kill us or we're so busy tripping over our own words that I never get around to asking about them."

Billy patted his pocket with his free hand.

"I keep him with me all the time, so if you want to talk about them we can. If you want to read about them, we can do that instead. Up to you."

Billy scrunched up his face at a man who was walking in the opposite direction that they were. He was positive that the man didn't look at Aurora once, mostly because Billy wouldn't break eye contact with the guy until the were past him. Billy nodded in satisfaction.

"I will say this though, a lot of this journal is more about how my dad felt about her and your mom as people, and as... women."

He let that hang in the air. He was not the most proud son about that aspect of his dad. But to be fair, his father had never actually done anything with those women. As much as it seemed he might have wanted to.

She looked up at Billy's face and smiled.  "He'd be very proud of you, I think.  I mean... with all you've accomplished.  That you've come so far and risen so high."

She sighed and returned to looking in the direction they were walking.

"Imagine what they'd think about the two of us together."

She chuckled.

"It's kinda appropriate in some ways, isn't it?  That Marie's daughter and the son of Lordian should end up arm in arm together on a night like tonight.  I sometimes think about how close someone has to be to another person, to serve them in that capacity.  The things they'd seen together and endured... the long nights, the worries, and the stress of it all."

She drew a deep breath.

"They must have been very close and cared about each other deeply."

Aurora spotted a restaurant then, a steakhouse whose awning seemed to indicate the place was nice enough to promise a good and filling meal that wouldn't make them ill.  "Steak?"  She asked him.  "I've never known any American man to turn down a steak."

The two of them entered and the man at the door found them a table straight away.  Aurora was a little overdressed, but she didn't mind.  It was fun being the woman people were looking at.  So long as she didn't have to talk to any of them she knew she'd be okay.  And by the way people were looking at Billy, that wasn't likely to happen.  The man had an air of menace about him and she found it terribly attractive.

Aurora picked up the menu.  

"Oh, they have baked potatoes here.  Have you ever had baked potatoes?  They cook them up in the oven with the skin on them and then put butter and chives on them... salt and cracked pepper.  At least the one place I got them at before did.  Delicious."

She felt his eyes still on her as she browsed the menu and she looked up arching an eyebrow, "Like what you see that much or do I have something caught in my teeth?"

She chuckled and forced herself to look at the menu again and under the table, she put her foot alongside Billy's.  Not rubbing.  Not moving, just sitting alongside his so that he knew she was there, touching him where no one else could see.  A smile grew on her face as she remembered a conversation from her youth.  

"I'm really glad you came to take me out tonight."  She said quietly for his ears alone.  

Billy smiled a large goofy smile. One that he simply could not contain. When she put her foot by his  he squirmed a tiny bit. Not a noticeable amount, but enough that she knew.

"For the record, I do like what I see, but I'm more stunned about how excited you are over a baked potato. I mean, does your mother just not cook them? My mom always said it was Irish food, and I get that, but it's also really cheap food."

Billy looked toward the waiter as he approached and waited as the man rattled off some specials. One had something to do with a braised pork thing. Billy was never fond of pork. But then the waiter mentioned something about a filet mignon and lobster tail.

He leaned over to Aurora then and whispered in her ear so only she could hear.

"I want that one, but if I open my mouth and order, this guy is just gonna look down his nose at me cause I don't even know what the wine guy is called. I'll keep you safe from bullets and bad guys, can you maybe just order dinner for us so I'm not embarrassed?"

He gave Aurora a very embarrassed look then. She knew him. She knew how he felt around fancy people and fancy things. The fanciest Billy's life ever got was spending time at Hollowood. Aurora had to understand that right?

Aurora smiled and looked to the waiter, she sat up straight and put on airs the way her Aunt Tara taught her long ago and spoke with a refined tone, "We will both have the steak and lobster thing."  Her words were common but the way she said them was far from it.  "Send out your wine guy too.  We'd like to ask him what he thinks we should have with our chow."

The waiter dipped his head respectfully, "Yes, Madam."  

With that, he took the menus and walked off.

Aurora giggled and looked back to Billy once he was out of earshot.  "It's not what you say, but how you say it.  If YOU think you're a nobody street rat from New York, why would he see a Don?  BUT, if you move, act, and think like you own this place and that everyone who works here works for you... well, I could have said literally anything to him and he would have accepted it as if it were normal."

She reached across the table and took his hand.

"We can go places together... you can practice it."  Her smile became devious, "I think I'd enjoy seeing you take control in that way.  You're physically strong, you know how to make people respect you with your kind heart and with your fists... but, there are so many more ways you can control the world and people around you.  I've watched my Aunt Tara and my mom do it for years.  Both of them are not very big... but people look at them like they are the most powerful people in the world.  Imagine what you, a big guy, could do with a mastery of that skill?  What room, what city couldn't you control with that kind of authority?"

She stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.

Billy shook his head.

"None. Not a single one probably. If I was half the man your mom is, I could do a whole hell of a lot. I'm not sure I would want to be that powerful though to be honest."

He watched as the wine guy started to come over with a list.

"I still need a bit more training though, so how about you just let me watch for a tiny bit longer before I give it a try myself huh?"

He then put a hand up as the wine man stepped up to the table and cleared his throat.

"It's not me you gotta impress bud, it's the lady's date, make it worth her while."

Billy contained his own signature smile as he gestured toward Aurora and watched the man wipe a confused look off his face and turn to Aruora to explain to her what would pair well with the choice they had made for dinner.

Aurora listened to the sommelier talk about the wines.  She'd already decided on a dry red, a Merlot, but she let him talk because she enjoyed watching Billy beaming at her.  He was leaning back in his chair, relaxed, and the smile he wore was something that seemed to speak of contentment.

When the sommelier walked away she met his eyes.  

"You know, you did it.  Just now.  You made him realize you were in charge.  The waiter, he figured I was the one who was important but you... with what you said, you change their perceptions.  When they bring the dinner, it's you they're going to defer to now.  All you had to do was point out that you'd brought me here.  If I was in control, you wouldn't have said that.  It's like dancing... subtle touches, implied desire, not forcing it... it's harder and yet, kinda simple."

Billy furrowed his brow.

"There's nothing implied here though. I took you out to dinner. Just cause you drove. I mean it WAS still my car. Also, I'm paying for everything so how was there even a question who is in charge? I came to take you out tonight you cause I lo..."

The waiter came by with their wine and poured it for them and Billy stopped talking cause he couldn't see past the bottle now in his face. As soon as the waiter departed he picked back up.

"Anyway, I wanted to see you tonight, I didn't care where we went or what we did, just that we did it together. But as soon as it was going to be dinner in my car, then doesn't that make me the one in charge?"

He glanced outside then and back to Aurora.

"Forget any of that for a minute. Hundred bucks, Truth or Dare?"

Aurora GLARED the waiter.  In her mind she imagined all the ways she could kill him just now, with the fork, with the knife, with the cup, and with the spoon.

But she put that out of her mind as Billy kept talking about being in charge.  She was going to challenge him on this point, but then he did something she couldn't resist. 

"$100."  She agreed and then came back with, "Dare." 

Shit. He didn't have a dare. He looked around the room frantically and then nodded.

"Flash your leg out from under the table at the waiter and make sure he knows you meant to do it."

That should keep things interesting until he could get her to tell him what he wanted to know.

"And then, you're turn. If you're up for it that is."

Aurora arched an eyebrow.  "Are you sure?"

When Billy did not rescind his dare.  She smirked and said, "Alright, but I'm going to enjoy this much more than you are."  

With that, she stuck her leg slowly out the side of the table cloth as she 'accidentally' knocked her napkin on the floor.  Bending over, to pick it up, she ran her hand down the length of her own leg, allowing herself to savor the smoothness of her freshly shaven skin.  As she reached the napkin she looked up to meet the eyes of the waiter who was, most definitely looking at her.  

She gave him a quick blink of one eye.  Her long lashes closing together purposefully for just a heartbeat.  She watched the man swallow the lump in his throat.  She knew that look.  It wasn't the first time a man had looked at her in that way, though it was probably one of the first times she'd done something like this with zero intentions for enjoying his company later.  In truth, the only pleasure she was really going to get out of this, was perhaps a bit sadistic.  She knew she should feel bad, but there was something about being with a guy like Billy that brought out certain... naughty tendencies in her.  

Her mother most definitely would not have approved.

Aurora rose up with her napkin in hand, realizing the man wasn't just looking at her legs then... but also her breasts which she had unintentionally allowed both Billy and the waiter a very good view of.  A blush rose in her cheeks as she realized perhaps she'd gone a little further with this than she had intended.

The waiter left the room.  She didn't know if he was going to perform some task for his job, or if he was running in terror, or if he needed a moment alone to compose himself again.  What she did know was this - when that guy came to the table again, it was going to be VERY hard not to laugh and he was most definitely going to have a hard time not looking at her.

"Wow. No wonder you can get in nice and close before you do your work."

Billy was sure it was vague enough that people would make their own assumptions about Aurora, and also that Aurora probably didn't care what other folks here thought.

"Thanks though. I'm not complaining about it."

Billy wasn't about to leave the room to compose himself. Not for lack of want, but more for the fact that he was sure standing up from under the table would have been the worst idea he's ever had. So instead, he reached out and took a sip of the wine that had been poured for them. He thought about exactly what he was going to do to the waiter if the man so much as looked at Aurora for more than a few seconds. Billy felt bad that he had brought this on himself. He did not feel bad for the waiter's lack of self control. Aurora was his girl, he was allowed to look.

"So, what'll it be then? What's my challenge?"

"Challenge?  Dare then?  Okay... let's see..." 

Aurora's face lit up as she seemed to think of something.  She went into her purse and pulled out a pencil and handed it to Billy. 

"On your napkin.  Write me a message that you want me to read the first time I'm all alone after you leave.  It can be anything you like."  She smiled.  

While he was writing she looked towards the kitchen.  The waiter had come out with one of the dishwashers.  They were looking at her and whispering with their heads close together as Billy was busy writing.  She looked away, disappointed.  She'd hoped the guy was smart enough to realize it was a game.  Apparently, she'd once again hoped for too much from the average person.  In the words of her mother's crewmate, London Holmes, 'Dull.'

She sighed. 

"You know what, I think I'll stick with truth this time.  Save the dares for after dinner."

Billy took the pencil and wrote down a pretty short note.

If you wanted, I would have taken you.

He folded the napkin up as crisp and tight as he could and then handed both back to Aurora.

"Truth huh? Alright then."

Billy sat up a little straighter in his chair. He folded his hands in front of him and then leveled the question at her.

"What would you give for my car? If you knew you could have it tonight, and that you could name the price, but it wasn't allowed to be cash. What would you give?"

He waved for the waiter. Anytime he drank wine he liked a glass of water between sips. He found it helped to keep the wine fresher to his taste.

"Water for myself and the lady please."

Billy snapped his fingers as the man was looking at Aurora even though Billy was the one placing the order.

"Hey buddy, I'm talkin' to you. Can we have some water once you manage to pick your tongue up off the floor?"

The waiter looked shocked that someone was calling him out on his shit. To be fair he hadn't really done anything wrong, but he had stopped being a good waiter, that was for sure. Some people were not good at hiding things, Billy was one of those people. But at least Billy had the common sense to do his job no matter how he felt about it all. The waiter peeled away with an apology to Billy. Not to Aurora though, which billy found irritating. He turned back to Aurora as the man was leaving.

"So, the car."

Aurora laughed.  "I don't have a lot to give in this moment."  She thought about it.  "Certainly very little that seems even close to the value of a car - let alone a really nice one."

She got serious a moment, thoughtful.  She let go of his hand and rested her chin on the heel of her hand hiding her mouth behind her curled up fingers.  "Hmm."

She moved her hand to her cheek and rested her head against it.  "If I hadn't promised my mother that I wouldn't moonlight work for other families outside of Race Street I could have promised to handle something for you."  

"On me I have only the items in my purse... not much really.  Lipstick, rouge, my license, maybe a hundred in cash..." 

She bit her lip to hide a smirk.  "On me I just have my clothing and... oh..."  She giggled and put her hand down in front of her and leaned over the table a bit as she said quiet enough for him alone to hear.

"It was my seventh Christmas when I got my very first knife.  My father has a leather smith make me a garter to strap it to my upper thigh every so often, you know, so it fits right.  Anyway, I seem to recall you having gotten a very brief look at the item in question in Detroit at that party when you gave me my knife back?"

She arched an eyebrow.

"In exchange for that car, I'll let you have my garter.  Since the garter itself is certainly not quite the same value as the car, I'll throw the right to remove the garter from my leg before I get ready for bed tonight.  Not because you'd get any use out of a woman's garter and knife sheath or that I even care all that much about the car, I don't give a shit about the car..."

She laughed.

"... but I do like the idea of you taking something off my body and keeping it as a memento.  That way you'll always have a small token to remember me by." 

Billy frowned.

"I thought you liked the car."

He really had, that was the whole point of the damned thing in the first place! It was supposed to be exciting and different and new! It was to him. Damn this woman for having everything in her life.

"It's a deal, but only if you want the car, if you don't want it, then it's just not worth it. I'll keep the car for myself then and you'll have to come up with something else worthwhile to end the evening with."

That's when it struck him. She had just invited him to bed. There was no question about it. Just the way it was all implied and dealt with and... he just turned her down. He could have slammed his own head into a wall for how stupid he was just then. He knew he had to play it cool though. As much as he really wanted to take back everything he said, there was no gain from that. Now it was time to play hard to get. It was the only remaining option to still look like he knew what he was doing.

"I'll follow suit. Truth."