Mio Sole

7 [Giovanni]

**June 7th, 1 am**

   "What are you saying?" I ask, my tone cold. The man in front of me doesn't not flinch at my voice, though his fingers tapping against his thigh are an obvious sign of his growing anxiety.

   "She is the first female born into a mafia family in almost 100 years, and you finally have her back," he says, his words making my fingers itch to pull a trigger. "All I am saying, sir, is that promising her marriage soon would be more beneficial than waiting."

"Who says I want to promise her marriage at all," I ask, the dangerous tone of my voice sending his fingers tapping faster.

"Sir, it is the way things have been done for hundreds of years. Her marriage would be the greatest way to strengthen any of our alliances-"

"I got my daughter back less than 24 hours ago. Are you seriously suggesting I give her away again?" Finally, he flinches from the harshness of my tone. "Get out of my office. I won't be hearing anymore of this."

The stupid man opens his mouth again as he nears the door. "If it would make you feel better, you could always give her a pick of them. Invite the best options to an event. Let her believe she is the one making the decision."

He exits my office before I can whip out my gun. I place my head in my hands and my temples, trying to relieve some of the growing pressure in my skull.

A knock sounds on my open door a few moments later. Probably Donatello, coming to argue on Salvatore's behalf. "I'm not in the mood," I snap.

"I'm sorry," Aurora's soft voice floats in from the doorways. My eyes whip to the door, an apology already on my tongue. If I'd known it was her, I would never have spoken so cruelly. That's not how I ever want her to see me. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You aren't," I say, standing from my chair and turning towards her. Any suit jacket is folded carefully over the back of the chair. I lean on the thick armrest, crossing my arms in front of me as she walks further into my office, her lavender dress swishing in the soft breeze. She'd lost her boots at some point during the evening, leaving her only in lacy white socks. "You should be asleep."

She gestures down to her dress, a sheepish expression crossing her face. "This aren't the most comfortable pajamas."

Of course. We hadn't given her time to pack when we brought her to New York, wanting to bring her home as soon as possible. However, I also forgot to have clothes brought here for her. A stupid, stupid mistake. I am about to grab my keys and drive to the store myself, maybe even to buy out their entire stock just to make sure to get something she likes. I'm just beginning to each for my keys when she holds up one of her own, one I recognize as the key to a lime-green and black McLaren in the garage. I just saw the door open and was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Of course," I say, stunned that she would willingly offer to spend time with me. Her expression when she got in the SUV earlier made it seem like she'd rather use the bullet in Dario's gun on me than go for a drive. "Where is it that you were going?"

She shrugs. "The track got boring. I was just going to go for a drive."

I gesture for her to lead the way. I stop at the door and grab two trench-coats from a hidden closet before following. I hold them both out to her, and she takes the black one, leaving me with the dark gray one. Both are tailored to my measurements, so Aurora is practically drowning in the fabric when she puts it on. It doesn't help that without her boots, she's only 5'1 at most. A solid foot and a half shorter than me. I chuckle, all worries about my previous arguments today forgotten.