Sofia didn't really want to let go of his hand. It was as if she felt that she'd lose another friend if she let go.  So, she didn't.

Six, I think.  The last time I saw you was in New York not long after you guys moved there.  It was the trip when Danny convinced us to go to that club opening in Manhattan- that awful place with the velvet furniture; where Nicky got so ridiculously wasted and tried to pick up that poor waitress- the child couldn't have been seventeen years old! 

That memory made her laugh.  A real laugh; the first one in days.  She looked down briefly before continuing.

I went back to Sicily very shortly after that.  My aunt, Regina, was not in good health and needed my help with the winery.  She passed away about a month later.  Since then, I've been keeping the winery and vineyards afloat and trying to expand our clientele.  I got a call from Via Parile that she and Will Hayes were interested in featuring the wines here.  I knew of them through Zia Regina, but had never met them.  That's how I ended up back here.  As soon as I got back to the US, I went to visit Danny.  We had dinner together, and we were making plans to go to Vegas for a weekend.  He was always looking out for me, you know.

She paused and sighed softly, then looked back up at Kevin.

Maybe he still is....

Laughter.....Kevin hadn't done that in a very long time.  And it felt good.  For just a few minutes that tension in his neck and shoulders was gone.  That hurt from the death he had seen, that feeling of always looking over his shoulder, is his time next.  All gone with simple laughter.  He looked at Sofia as she spoke.  He hung onto every word, but really heard nothing.  He started to have feelings for her, and he wondered if that was right.  What would his buddy think?  As Sofia sighed and paused her story, Kevin grabbed her other hand and looked into her eyes...

Thank you, Sofia.  I didn't know it, but I needed to see you tonight.  And maybe you needed to see me too. 

With that the bartender appeared with a broom in hand.  They had talked till closing time.  It had only seemed like minutes.  Kevin stood up and put his hand out to help Sofia out of the comfy booth.  He placed his arm around Sofia's waist and leaned down close to her ear...

Well darlin', looks like we've worn out our welcome here.  Any suggestions?

Will and Via had been enjoying a quick bite in the kitchen.  They were hidden away sometimes, not to hide from the world, but to hide from business.  Sometimes they just needed a break.  He took a sip of wine, smiled and got up from his seat, reaching for her hand.  Come on, let's see if the band's still playing. 

He took her by the  hand, and they pushed through the kitchen door and into the bar.  Will saw Kevin and Sofia and smiled.  He saw the bartender, looked to Via and back.  He waved off the bartended and spoke to Kevin and Sofia.

"No, no.  Don't you worry about it.  It's not closing time.  You guys can stay as long as you want." 

He looked up toward the stage and saw the band.  They weren't playing, but they were all still there.  He nodded and  they immediately began preparing to play yet again.  Will looked back to Via and smiled.

"Come on, let's dance." 

Via took his hand and his lead. The few stragglers left in the place were in the midst of making their morning plans, Sofia and Kevin were deep in what appeared to be intimate conversation, the band played as if they weren't tired of playing for hours that night, and she fell into step with her Will who led her in a dance but they barely moved from their spot on the floor.

The past few weeks had been rough. They had dealt with so much in such short time. Late nights, early mornings, bad news over more bad. Her visits to his office had been more and more numerous, often with work piling between them, and they shared fewer and fewer cordial visits. It felt so good to have her hand in his, and his arm about her waist as the stress between them floated up to the rafters with the notes from the muted brass players. Her eyes looked to his face, and the lines from their work seemed to diminish. She smiled, and he replied in kind. They had grown far beyond the pleasantries and professional distance their stations demanded, but here, in her place, they were just two people, sharing a dance, held together for a moment on a worn wooden floor. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

A sigh softly passed her lips as she did, and at last she could relax the tension that seemed to possess her of late. She breathed deeply, something she felt she hadn't been able to do in such a long time. He did that for her; his calming presence recharged her, and often when he took her out of their work and away from Black Bottom, she felt like herself again. That woman, hopelessly lost who happened into a bar in Chicago and from that point, forever changed.

"Will." His name was just a quiet whisper, but it escaped nonetheless.

They continud dancing slow, but perfectly in step with the music and with eachother.  They'd finally had one evening to let go of work and take time to themselves, and it was definitely needed.  

He kept her close, his one hand resting on her lower back, their other hands joined together as they continued to move to the music.  They smiled for what seemed like the first time in weeks, and Will finally took a breath.  He needed this time.  He had relied on Via so much over the last several weeks.  Leaned on her so much, and demanded too much from her.  He trusted her beyond all others, but that was the professional.  This was not.  

His smile grew as he heard his name.  He turned only slightly, his lips only slightly brushing Via's ear, and Will whispered.  

"Via, you know..."

The rest could not be heard, except by Via.  To the rest of the world, the band drowned out Will's words.

Her eyes opened, and widely. She leaned her head back and lifted her chin to look him in the eyes. Via tilted her head slightly as her lips opened. 

"I..." Via found herself speechless, and broke into a smile that forced her to bite her lower lip to curb. She could feel the heat in her cheeks, but didn't hide it. She wanted Will to see. The question was unspoken and in his eyes, but there was no impatience, no pressure in the asking.

Almost imperceptibly at first she nodded. "Since that first night in Chicago. The first hour." she replied, finding her words at last.

"I've missed this you."

Their eyes met; Will smiled.  

"I've missed this me, too.  And us."  

He sighed, keeping her close, and unaware of anything or anyone else around them.  The music was playing, but Will didn't hear it.  People were talking, the remaining crowd was rustling about, but Will only heard Via.  

"We needed tonight," he whispered as he leaned in, and then their lips met and they were engaged in a passionate kiss.  

Her feet left the floor, left Detroit and left every care of the past few weeks behind. There was nothing in the world but Will and he, there in that moment and since the moment she'd met him, was everything. She melted into him and into his kiss until an eon had passed them by. When he finally pulled away, just enough to part them, she realized her surroundings. He did as well, but neither let go.

"Will, I..." her lip trembled both in excitement and the joy of a truth now realized. And yet she wished they could be anywhere but here in her seedy little secret on the outskirts of town. 

Still at a loss for words, she pulled her hand gently from his and placed her fingertips on his face. 

"I've needed you."

He lifted his hand from her waist, and brushed a loose hair from her face, and his fingertips lingered.  Their eyes remained fixed on eachtother, the smile settled on his lips.  

He whispered, "I know..." 

He sighed, and continued, "I'm sorry about these last few weeks.  You've deserved better.  I know it's been rough on you.  On us."

He leaned in closer again. 

"I've needed you too."  

She closed her eyes once more and rested her head in his hand as his thumb brushed along her temple.

"Will, please don't be sorry. You say these things as if this were planned and we had to endure all these ordeals alone. I was never alone. You were never alone. It was rough on both of us, but you were the light at the end of that dark tunnel." 

Via's eyes opened, and she wasn't surprised to see his gazing at her, eyes she'd found piercing and intriguing and captivating since she first saw them in Chicago. 

"I made it through because of you. Because of us."  

To herself she thought about each furrowed brow, each worried face, and each angry, clenched jaw and how each one chipped away at her. How many nights she'd watched the light in his office from hers across the hall, wanting to reach out, wanting to offer more than just a comforting word. Watching the stress overtake him this past week had made her ill. If only then she'd walked in and...

She stepped up, on her toes, her heels leaving the floor so she could reach, and pressed her lips to his again.

At that moment there was nobody in that room, in the bar, anywhere but the two of them, locked in that passionate kiss.  A kiss longer than the first, and for that moment Will just disappeared.  He wasn't a crewleader, one of them, anything.  He was just a man, standing in front of the woman he loved enveloped in a kiss.  

As they slowly pulled a way, their eyes met again, and they both smiled. 

For Will, it was a relaxed smile.  A knowing smile.  

"I think we've done okay so far.  I know it's been tough.  But it's because of you that I've made it through."

He took her hands in his, their eyes' gaze never wavering.  

"Promise me we won't go another three weeks without recharging."

His smile was effortlessly intoxicating and contagious. She could sense a playful danger in his grin; he was a drug, and Via the hopeless addict. She hadn't seen much of it the past few weeks, but she had not forgotten the effect of his upturned lips and crinkled eyes.

Half playfully, and yet with the hint of a sigh still caught in her voice, she brushed her thumbs along his knuckles.

"I doubt we'll go a day now, Will."

Her own smile grew, but she looked down at his hands as color filled her cheeks. No need to be so forward, she chided herself, though when she looked back to him, his smile was just as bright as before. 

"Especially if you keep looking at me with that smile of yours."

He laughed softly.

"I can't help it.  You do it to me.  When I'm near you, I want to smile."

He took a deep breath, and watched as her cheeks filled with color. He reached up with his hands and lightly touched her cheeks.  

"You're blushing.  Why are you blushing?" 

As her smile grew, his smile followed.  

Damn him, she thought, her cheeks feeling positively crimson at this point. Of course she was blushing, how could she not be?

"It's silly, and juvenile, I suppose. All those nights in your office going over paperwork, discussing business in the other cities, dealing with the ugliness of late. How long I've wanted to do that, to interrupt you that way and see you smile. In the privacy of your office and yet here we are..."

Even in the dim light of the Rose Tattoo she felt exposed. She didn't care so much for her sake, but for his. He had a name to uphold, a reputation to keep; a district to run. Her fingers traced the lapel of his suit and the pin of the family crest on his lapel. Her fingertips traced over the intricate silversmithing. Via had no intention of ruining his good name, and the respect he'd built for himself. A leader of his stature consorting with his second in command? She also knew that she was far beyond keeping her feelings from him.

"I fell for you a while ago, and I'm falling still, Will." She sighed, a lovely, resigned sigh that ended in a smile. She'd not moved an inch away and had no intention of doing so. "But how am I supposed stand next to you at Black Rock now without everyone seeing right through me?"

He stepped back and smiled.  

"You can stand next to me hand in hand.  And they'll know that we are one.  As we've always been.  We'll stand together.  Simple as that."

He made it sound simple, and to Will, it was simple.  They'd always had a partnership.  And this didn't change that.  They were still partners.  In every sense of the word.   

"You are the person I trust most in this world.  They know that.  They respect that.  And they'll continue to respect that."

He smiled again, kept her stare, and reached for her hand.

"What will they see?  That we would do anything for eachother?  How does that weaken Black Rock? We would do anything for eachother, and for this entire family.  Right? "

He said the words as if they'd been on his mind for a long while. Not practiced, but deliberate and resolute. She smiled, fully aware that her chin trembled twice when he spoke. Quietly, she took a step closer to close the gap he'd opened. Her hand found his and their fingers interlaced. Via never took her eyes off his face.

Simple as that. 

"I would. I would do anything for you Will. And it doesn't weaken us, or the family."

She raised their intertwined hands to her face and pressed the back of his hand to her lips. 

"Stronger together." Via's dark eyes shone as resolute and intense as the namesake of their family, and she repeated the words.

Then she whispered three more.

And just when he didnt' think his smile could get any wider, she whispered those three words.  

Will responded with a kiss to the back of Via's hand, followed by a gentle squeeze of the hand.  His eyes remained fixed on hers.  There was still nobody else in the world in that moment.  It was clear the whole world would soon know.  Their secret was a secret no more.  And Will wasn't concerned.  

He leaned in closer.  

He wanted to blurt, but softly announced, "I've never been happier." 

Then whispered a return of the same three words.

His voice was soft, but received him clearly. Via couldn't be sure she heard the echo in her ears, or if she'd just watched his lips as he formed each tiny word that held so much weight, each syllable resonating in her soul. 

"Come," she said at last, dropping their hands down, but keeping her fingers intertwined.

"You promised me a dance once, and tonight you gave me so much more." Her other hand reached up to trace fingertips along his temple, and down around his jawline.

"The hour's late, Will." She smiled, and leaned in for another kiss, brief, but no less meaningful.

"Let's go. Let's go home."

She didn't care they went. Home was a little bar in Chicago. Home was a table in her lounge. Home was an office in Detroit at Black Rock. Home was a flat overlooking the river. Home was anywhere Will was, and where he led, she would follow.

Sofia was in the back office with Via, chatting casually and planning a Sunday brunch when the bartender poked her head in the door.   

"Ms. Viacelli, there's a gentleman out here at the bar who is asking for someone named Regina.  That was your aunt's name, right?"

A chill ran through Sofia, and she looked up quickly.  Before leaving Sicily, Sofia had taken great care to assure that any "old business" of her Aunts had been taken care of.  There were no enemies left; but a Viacelli could never be too cautious.  Standing, Sofia nodded to the bar tender.

"Tell him that someone will be with him in a moment."

Sofia glanced at Via.

"This could be interesting.  Excuse me, please."

Pausing at the framed mirror just outside the office door, Sofia checked her appearance.  Though she was nearly 30 years younger than her aunt, Sofia had the same distinct features of the Viacelli family.  Her dark hair was pulled into a neat, sophisticated twist, secured with a silver comb.  She wore a conservative yet elegant navy blue dress with a string of pearls.  Smiling softly into the mirror, Sofia remembered Regina's words to her at a very young age. "The right dress can be just as dangerous to a man as any weapon."  

Sofia stepped through the door and into the bar area.  There was a man seated at the bar with a tall, dark drink.  He looked to be about her age, but his face wasn't immediately familiar.  She walked over beside him and smiled.

"Sir?  Hello, my name is Sofia.  You were looking for Regina- Regina Viacelli?"