Two and a half weeks after the events of "A Weekend Getaway"

It was unusual for Eva to sleep late. Any doctor you ask would tell you it's next to impossible to sleep past 6 a.m. when one is used to waking up before the sun to scrub in. On this particular day, however, Eva had plans and had to wait until Billy left the apartment late that morning. She left her door shut so that he'd think she was still asleep, but went about making final arrangements very quietly until she heard the apartment door open and shut. A few seconds later, there was a knock at her bedroom door. The voice that came through was that of her new body man, Connor. 

"He's clear, Dr. Hadley."

With a grin, Eva opened the door. The young body guard stood straight and almost militaristic at attention, dressed in a black suit with black shirt and tie. Eva raised an eyebrow to the sandy-blonde haired man.

"You don't have to call me that in private, Connor. I'm Eva. Now, is everything ready?"

"Yes ma'am. The caterers said that everything would be ready in an hour, and I checked with the office and so far, Don Mastrosimone has nothing scheduled for lunch that anyone knows of."

Nodding, Eva closed the door to her borrowed bedroom and strolled to the kitchen, stopping briefly to check her appearance in the large mirror in the hallway. Her dark hair was pressed in finger waves and pinned back with a pearl comb, save for a few strands that framed her face. Rouge and eyeliner had been applied with the precision of a surgeon, and a brand new blue sundress and matching ballet flats made up the rest of the outfit. 

"Let's go, then."

Taking her handbag and white button-up sweater over her arm, she followed Connor to the car. There, two more of her newly employed guards stood by the door. Hank opened the back seat for her while Connor and Jack got in the front. Hank, by far, was the largest of the three, and very nearly matched Billy Mastrosimone in build- but not exactly. The car pulled away from the curb with a sly-smiling doctor peeking out the window.

The warehouse was already bustling with various projects; mostly car parts and boxes of this and that being wheeled across the smooth concrete floor. Glancing up, Eva could see the light on in Billy's office. 

"Just wait here, we'll be down in a moment."

Hank and Connor nodded and stood side-by-side with arms behind their backs. Eva wasn't sure she would ever get used to such tight security, but had now been in 'the business' long enough to understand their importance. She climbed the iron staircase, then turned the corner to Billy's office. Before knocking, she smoothed out the bodice of her dress and gave her cheeks a gentle pinch. With a deep breath, she raised her hand and knocked three times on the heavy wooden door.

Billy's brow had been furrowed for what felt like hours. Hell it probably had been hours. There were projects upon projects on his desk, and now he had taken on yet another one. Land survey's just north of the city on Lake St Claire were visible, he was still deciding on which ones he wanted when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in please."

He did not raise his head as he heard the door open.

"What can I do for... Eva? What are you doing here doc? You normally don't come to my office for much."

He was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events, it meant she was becoming more comfortable around him.

Eva peeked around before crossing the threshold of the office to make sure she wasn't interrupting anything. She smiled as he looked up and noticed her.

"Hi. I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I didn't know if I should make an appointment with anyone, but that seemed kind of silly."

She took a few more steps toward the desk, noticing the stacks of paper, and put her handbag down in the chair.

"It's good to see you- you know, outside of the passing hellos in the apartment. We keep funny hours, don't we?"

Billy smiled but shrugged.

"Sometimes this job calls for funny hours. Also, you never need to make an appointment. You're family, and that means that when you need me for something I'll drop everything for you."

He leaned back as he felt a stretch and a yawn oncoming and decided it would be best to stand up for a bit.

"So, what did you think you needed an appointment for? Is everything ok? Do you need money, or guys to help you with something?"

Billy walked over to the side of the desk Eva was standing on and he leaned back against the desk.

"Oh, no, nothing like that. Everything is just fine. Excellent, really. A lot of progress is being made on the storefront, and that's keeping me busy in a good way. Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I thought I'd give you an update on things."

She paused, a little nervously, before continuing.

"Over lunch. I was thinking maybe you could use some fresh air. It's nice out, and I thought we could walk down by the river a bit."

Unconsciously, Eva nipped at her bottom lip slightly, but didn't break eye contact with him. 

Billy's stomach audibly agreed with the idea of lunch. And he realized in that moment that he hadn't even eaten breakfast at home that morning.

"You've read my mind. Let's get a nice walk in before the season really turns cold, and we can grab a bite to eat while we're out. My treat."

Billy smiled and took his suit jacket off the back of his chair, swinging it onto him just as he made his way to his office door.

"Say doc, you ever been north of the city, around the northern part of Lake St. Claire?"

He was hoping she had been, he was going to need some opinions of the area, or he would have to mark a day off for a trip himself.

Quickly swiping her handbag from the chair, she followed him to the door.

"Actually, it's my treat today. I have a place in mind. I have my car downstairs waiting.  I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of a few...arrangements."

They walked downstairs where Connor and Hank were still waiting, exactly where she'd left them. When the two came to the bottom step, the guards started a few paces ahead of them toward the exit, holding the door for them. Eva climbed into the car first, followed by Billy. Once they were settled in, Eva went back to his previous question.

"As for the northern part of the lake, I've been in that area a few times. The hospital administrator has a lake house in that area and would bring us out in the summer for a department picnic. It's a lovely area, really. Half extremely rich people, half completely undeveloped, if I remember correctly."

Billy nodded.

"Yeah that's what I get from the surveyors. I

m thinking about buying up some of the undeveloped land up there. A whole bunch of it actually. I have an idea for a future project up there and that area seems nice."

He changed tack then as they made their way toward the park.

"So what arrangements? Or is this some kind of big surprise?"

She smiled a bit and shrugged.

"Call it a 'thank you' for everything you've done for me. I never really got a chance to properly do that."

It wasn't a long ride to the river walk park. Before long, the car came to a stop. Eva got out and waited for Billy to walk around to the curb side. When he did, she took his arm and gestured toward a grassy area overlooking the river. There, already arranged on the ground, was a large white and red checkered blanket, and a large wicker basket with a lunch spread fit for royalty. There was a tray with several selections of cheese, meat, and grapes. A loaf of soft french bread was sliced and arranged neatly on a plate, and a bottle of Billy's preferred whisky with two glasses. 

Several guards surrounded them, giving them plenty of space but keeping a secure perimeter. Eva sat her bag down on the blanket, then glanced to Billy.

"I know it's not the usual sort of lunch meeting place, but...I wanted to do something unique...for you."

Billy looked around on awe. It was really pretty here. The blanket was laid out just right and all the food, and even the nature around the place seemed to bristle up just the right way when they approached. It was serene.

"Eva, you know I've never been on a picnic before. This is real sweet of you. I really like it. I don't know what to say."

He felt like he was both rambling and saying nothing all at once.

"I thought you were just gonna show me the place you've been working on and then we would go to Nick's. This is amazing though. How did you come up with all of this? I would have never thought to do this."

He took a seat near her so he could see the river in front of him and grabbed a grape off of the plate. On of the green ones, not the purple ones. Billy never liked the purple grapes.

Eva's grin grew into a wider smile at his reaction. Tucking the back of her dress underneath, she knelt down on the blanket and opened the bottle of whiskey.

"Well, I've seen this life for some time now; and so often it seems so very closed in. Secret meetings, tense dinners or business lunches where everyone has an agenda and a gun. I thought it might be nice to step out of that for a little while. I think we can get lost in it sometimes, you know?"

She handed Billy a glass, then took the other, holding it near his. 

​​​​​​"So here's to a few bright moments."

Billy raised his glass and clinked it against hers.

"To bright moments."

He took a good pull of whiskey and nodded his approval.

"This is really good. So, what did you want to show me/tell me? I know you want to try and use at least some of this time to get away from work and all, but my life never stops. I have to always think about it because if I don't. That's when bad things happen."

"Completely understandable, so we can have business with a view."

Eva took a couple of cubes of cheese from the tray to nibble while they talked. 

"The storefront is almost complete, and so far the contracter has us $10k under budget. We nearly had an issue with the code enforcement officer regarding the basement, but I had no problems dealing with that."

Eva smirked a little. 

"The code enforcement officer was a patient of mine once. He came in for a nasty little infection...that he didn't get from his wife. But, she won't find out- and the building is completely up to code."

With that, reclined back onto her elbows as a gentle breeze wafted over them.

Billy burst out into laughter at the mention of the other man's infidelity.

"Oh man doc, you could really get some folks into trouble huh? I never thought about that, but blackmail might be right in your wheelhouse."

He grabbed some of the cheese himself and popped a few pieces into his mouth.

"You know if you're really interested in that sort of thing, we can get you some information. You're a pretty woman. I'm sure you can slide into a lot more places than I could just by hanging onto someone's arm or something."

Billy never really did start thinking about what jobs to send his good doctor on. She was more the stay at home just in case type of woman. But now? Now he might be able to do something with this.

His laughter caught Eva by surprise. She had never seen him laugh so heartily. In fact, she was quite caught up in his smile and very nearly missed his compliment. She cut her eyes off to the side for a moment and grinned a little.

"Well thank you. You're right though, perhaps I could be of good use that way. After all, as far as anyone knows, I'm just a doctor and soon-to -be business woman from a wealthy philanthropic family. That may easily open some doors for us. I'd be glad to do anything you need, of course."

Taking a slice of prosciutto, she wrapped it around a bit of cheese and took a bite, looking over the sparkling water of the river. Eva loved being near water. There was something about a gently moving river or a softly rippling lake that n made her feel more alive than anything else. She closed her eyes for a moment and drew in a long, refreshing breath. 

​​​​

Billy watched as Eva relaxed, so he decided to do the same. He slipped his jacket off and then tucked it up underneath his head as he lay down on the blanket and looked up at the sky. It was nice just watching clouds roll by and taking in the air.

It would be winter soon and there weren't many days like this left to them before that atrocity hit.

"So. Your family's alright then? You still in touch with them and everything?"

Nodding, Eva shifted so that she was laying on her stomach, propped up by her elbows beside Billy, then took another sip of her whiskey.

"We write every other day, practically. Integra and I didn't have time to stay until they returned from Norfolk, so they're terribly curious to know more about the mysterious businessman I've begun working for. I told them I'm an on-call physician for you and spend the rest of my time working in a local women's shelter. It's not completely a lie- I do a few shifts at the shelter every month, but just not as much as they think."

Glancing down, her finger traced a few of the red squares on the blanket.

"I never thought I'd find myself in a life like this; but you know, I don't think of myself as living some deplorable life of crime. I just see myself as a healer in a situation where people just happen to need healing often. But it doesn't mean I don't help good people."

She looked over at Billy, who was enjoying the warmth of the waning fall sun. 

"Like you. I'll admit that I don't know any others in your position, but you have a good heart. I think...you're probably a bit different than the others."

Billy's eyes snapped open and looked to Eva.

"I wish I could say there were more like me. I'm not gonna lie, there are a few. But even me, I see myself changing every day. I become more cold and calculating. Everything I'm doing I'm starting to think about before I do it now. That's one of the reasons I'm enjoying this so much. I didn't think about it. I just did it. It's like I'm not a Don right now. I can just be Billy for a little while."

He reached down and touched the handle of one of his guns. The only two he carried anymore. They were coal-black M1911s. They had far more sinister purposes in their lifetime than Billy had intended for them now.

"These for example, used to belong to a man who once used them to kill the wife of the man holding them. My father too of course, but they weren't made with the intention of killing my dad. There are people out there in this world that do things like that. I could never imagine that. I want people to be safe and happy. The only people who should ever suffer at my hands are bad people, people who hurt others purely for power, or money, or greed, or politics."

He turned onto his side then.

"You know exactly the kind of people I'm talking about."

He reached over and grabbed a slice of whatever his fingers found and popped it into his mouth before laying back down and wiping his fingers on the grass.

A soft smile grew across her lips and she nodded.

"I do, and I've seen first had the voracity with which you care for those closest to you. I saw it the first night we met in the Emergency Department at St. Andrew's."

Her eyes wandered down to the weapons at his side, then back up to him.

"You read the stories in the papers about the crime 'families' and how it's all blood, power, and money. But no one thinks about the human side of the business. Working so closely with people who you know may not live to see the next day. It's not just power and money though, is it? Not for you. It's building something that will last. I think that's admirable- no matter what the business is."

Again, Eva found herself looking at Billy, noticing the well defined features of his face. 

Billy had been laying there in the sun popping grapes and stealing cheese for more than just a few minutes when he heard high-pitched giggling and laughter coming from the water. He picked his head up and saw a gaggle of children and a smattering of adults splashing in the water.

"Alright doc, I know I'm not supposed to right after I eat, but I'm going down there with those folks. You comin?"

He stripped out of his shirt as he spoke and doffed his shoes and socks quickly. He started to roll up his pants before he turned to look at Eva again.

"Even if you don't swim, you can hike up your skirt a bit and just let the water run over your ankles. Promise it'll feel real nice. The water is normally still pretty warm this time of year cause the cold hasn't hit yet."

With that he stood and held out a hand for Eva to take.