Private pool.

~*~

"Get her there safely." With that, he got out of the car and headed to a motel nearby.

"He'll be fine, don't worry about him. He dealt with things like this already. Currently, we should focus on you because I, for one, don't want to get my ass involved with the Salvatore's anymore,"

"James told me about your father, Hades." I began on our way back.

"Daddy," he spat, "Never liked that old bat anyway."

"Well, that's-"

"Interesting? Sad? Pathetic? Yeah, we never used to see eye to eye. My old man was a dictator, I was a free spirit."

"Why were you tied up by Vincelli's men?"

He rolled his eyes, "Are you always this nagging?"

"I'm a woman, it's what I do." I retorted, "And you didn't answer my question."

"I'm not obligated to answer to your cupcake."

Placing my hand on the gun, I smiled sweetly, "Would be a pity seeing a bullet through your brain,"

"Can't have no damn civil conversation here, now can I?" he answered mirroring my smile, yet in an annoyed manner.

"What can I say? The Salvatores are finally rubbing off on me!"

Moe laughed and took hold of his gun, placing it to the side, away from my reach. "I like you, kid. You got spunk."

"Thanks, Moo, Moo, you still didn't answer my question though."

"Don't have to."

Rolling my eyes, I exhaled, "HOW long again?"

"We're here." He instantly answered.

I hadn't realized how fast the time went by with his company. Perhaps that was a good thing. And as strange as it seemed, I felt comfortable with Moe. Even though I should have every right not to trust him, there was something about him that I couldn't bring myself to hate.

Getting out of the car, I looked at the towering building in front of me. It was beautiful.

"The Heights Hotel."

"What's wrong?" I heard Moe ask from behind.

"It's nothing." I gave the cliché response back, but this was more than nothing. Never in my life had I thought I would be in such a position. I got involved with the Mafia. Hell, I killed a woman. This was not anything. Moe snapped his finger in front of me to bring me back to reality.

"I know what you're thinking."

"What?" I answered, genuinely confused.

"I'm starved too. Let's hit the casino while we're at it as well." He grinned as he guided me towards the building.

"I know what you're thinking."

"What?"I answered, genuinely confused.

"I'm starved too. Let's hit the casino while we're at it as well." He grinned as he guided me inside towards the receptionist.

"Hello," she beamed quite friendly,

"Reservations?"

"Yes actually my lovely-"

"Brother-" I inserted in his sentence before he told her I was his wife and booked us a room with a single bed.

He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head which made the girl giggle a bit, "Yes my sister, she's a handful sometimes."

Joining in their awkward laughing, I slapped Moe playfully on the shoulder to focus, *" My brother keeps forgetting what he came here for. You see, he normally gets distracted by pretty girls."

Oh." She blushed.

Yes," Moe cleared his throat and read her name tag, "My apologies, Sasha, sweetie, we came here to meet someone in particular."

Giving her a piece of paper which I noticed had James' handwriting, she nodded, "Oh yes. Presently he's not available however he did mention to me to ensure your stay here is comfortable. And don't worry, he wanted me to assure you that you are safe here."

"See baby sister, there is nothing to worry about, now is there?" Moe smugly smiled patting me on the head.

As he collected the room key from Sasha, I walked ahead, "Hurry before I tell Daddy how irresponsible you are Moo, Moo."

"We can't live to please everyone, piranha."

Entering the elevator, I considered his words. He was right. We can't live to please everyone. Some of us don't even get to live that long anyway. It made me think about our time on this earth. Why cause so much suffering? So much pain? What did Sinister get by doing this? And what was in that folder that he so wanted from my brother? Things were not adding up. My thoughts shifted towards James, I hope he's fine.

Moe's loud humming of the elevator music brought me back to reality.

"This isn't our room floor." I pointed out.

"I know."

"Where are you going?"

Where are we going." He corrected with a wink.

"Moe, what are you even-"

"Relax, you seem so tense. We're going to have some fun, get a little drunk and smile."

"Usually I would agree, but I'm not in the mood, Moville."

*Why? Is James on your mind? He'll be fine, piranha,"

"Call him okay?"

"I will." Moe smiled and came out of the elevator as I followed, entering the casino. He was right, being in a lively atmosphere did lighten my mood. This place was enormous now that I mention it, lights chandeliers, and the service was divine. As Moe, continued his game of pool, I sat munching on a snack. To be quite honest, I can't remember the last time I ate anything. Yet, for some odd reason, I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched. Maybe it was all in my head? So many things happened in the past few days, I must have just been exhausted. The feeling was eating me.

Moe had been looking in my direction every so often to ensure I was safe. Needing to use the washroom, I signaled him to which he nodded.

The place was huge, so finding the washroom seemed like a task on its own. But I was smart, so I asked an employee who escorted me to one. After peeing, I looked at myself in the mirror and I almost couldn't recognize myself. My hair fell flat and looked greasy while my eyes seemed to show dark circles. Damn Sinister.

I washed my face and ran the water over my hair. If there was one thing I hated, it had to be gross greasy-looking hair. If only I had something to dry my hair to give it back that volume now. My eyes fell upon the hot air blower.

No.

I internally laughed at my stupidity and defied my inner sense, sticking my head close to the air blower to dry my damp hair. Thank god no one was here at the moment. That would have been something to talk about. After I was finished with my nonsense, I looked at my hair in the mirror and was thoroughly pleased with how voluminous it was. Now I was feeling much better.

Playing with my pearl earring as I walked out, and it suddenly fell off and began to roll away to my demise. Now, I wasn't a materialistic person, but I truly loved that little earring, and the thought of getting one apart from this one was not an option. I scrambled myself after the little drop, not realizing I had stumbled and tripped into a private poolroom. My elbows grazed against the carpet and I almost felt like my right ankle had twisted. The pain swallowed me.

"Are you alright?" I suddenly heard an alarmed yet concerned voice of a man, who aided me up to face his gentle blue eyes and soft blonde hair. He seemed almost mesmerizing to look at very French-like.