The hostess at the front leads us up to a private dinning room on the second floor of the bricked building where I see a number of people standing around, talking amongst themselves. There's a large window wall on the back wall that overlooks the Hudson river just outside.

Dominic wanders off and is immediately engulfed with conversations.

Max squeezes my arm lightly. "Are you ok, with all this?" He asks me softly. "If it gets too much we can just leave..."

"No." I tell Max firmly. "I'm ok. Tonight is about celebrating the triumph over those wankers, right?"

Max chuckles. "Right." He smiles and bends his head down to kiss the side of my head. "But you say the word and we blow this popsicle stand." He says in a voice of one of the mobsters off a film, making me laugh lightly.

I give Max a small nod in agreement before he leads me deeper into the room.

"Maxwell!" A thick Italian voice booms. I turn my head to see a man in his early sixties walking towards us as he leaves another group. He's got a stocky build, slicked back black hair with a grey streak down his left side, a noticeable scar on his upper lip, light stubble decorating his face. The man is wearing black trousers, a white button up with two thirds of the buttons done up to leave the top of his lightly hairy chest on show, a black suit jacket, and a pair of expensive looking loafers. His eyes are a dark green that are scanning me as he gets closer to us.

"Pops." Max smiles at the man. He lets go of my arm to shake the man's hand. "Pops, this is my sister Eloise. Eloise, this is Pops, Dominic's father."

I extend my hand out to the man. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir." This is Dominic's Dad? His eyes remind me of him, but that's about all.

He gives my hand a firm handshake. "Please, call me Pops." He tells me in a firm tone, a firm tone I know all too well from his son. "And my dear Eloise, the pleasure is all mine." He purrs my name.

I flush and force my eyes away from his.

Max takes my arm in his again, settling my nerves slightly.

"How are you doing, my boy?" Pops asks Max.

Max laughs lightly. "I'll be good as new in no time." He says lightheartedly. "Nothing a little physical rehabilitation with the nurse won't cure." Pops and Max both laugh, meanwhile I almost gag at the insinuation.

"Nurses really are the best cure." Pops says. "I know the nurse I had when I was going through my treatment really helped to speed up my recovery." He wriggles his eyebrows at Max suggestively.

Max nods, a wide grin on his face in understanding. "How is the new Kidney treating you, Pops?"

"I'm a new man." He says proudly. "And I should think so after the hefty amount I paid for it." Pops eyes momentarily flicker to me before he looks back at Max as if he shouldn't have said what he did.

Max shakes his head. "She's good, Pops." He tells the man in a confident tone.

Pops chuckles lightly. "I knew it wouldn't take you long to come clean to her after she got here." He says in a knowing tone.

"Well I couldn't exactly hide my hospital stay nor the bullet holes in my skin." Max sounds slightly irritated, as if he hadn't actually wanted me to find out at all. It makes me wonder, if he hadn't been shot then how long would he have continued to lie to me for? Would Max have ever told me who he and Dominic were? Would Dominic have told me if Max didn't? 

I feel my gut wrenching at the thought that the two of them would have continued to keep me in the dark if Max hadn't gotten hurt. The only reason Dominic had come clean to me at all is because he wasn't sure if Max would recover. If Dominic and I had gotten into a relationship without me knowing who he really was, then would he have ever told me?

Max guides me over to the table once everyone has arrived. Dominic is sitting at the head, as per usual. Pops is sitting to the left of Dominic, directly across from Max at Dominic's right. I'm next to Max. The rest of the people around the table are only a couple from the last dinner I'd been to otherwise everyone else was completely new to me.

A few waitresses came around to take peoples drinks order, I could see one of them openly flirting with Dominic and I had to force myself to look anywhere else. There was an aching in my belly when I saw her flirting with him, I noticed it to be familiar as I had felt the same aching when the girl at the club, Becca, had sat down on his lap in her revealing dress and they'd been whispering in each others ears. 

I wasn't jealous they were flirting with him, he's quite handsome so I couldn't blame them for being so buoyant about it. I think what made me jealous was that he pays attention to everyone but me in public, and I know it's because Max would flip out, but I also wonder if it's because of me. Am I too shy to gain his attention in a public setting with others around? Am I too conservative, because I never show more skin than I think necessary. I know Dominic's normal type is the slutty one night stands, that's what he'd told me, so I know he prefers to engage with women who have a lot of themselves on show.

Max ordered an espresso while I stuck to just having water.

When the drinks came out, I could see many bottles of red wines being opened around the table. The waitstaff also brought out an assortment of entrees and set them spread throughout the table.

"Care for a glass, Eloise?" Pops asks across the table holding up one of the red wine bottles.

I shake my head at him and offer him a small smile. "No thank you, I don't drink."

"We don't care about your age, dear. We all come from countries where we drink legally at 18, if not earlier." He smirks.

I shake my head again. "Thank you, but I really do not drink." I reiterate politely.

"So much like your brother." He chuckles and shakes his head at Max and I as if he doesn't understand us, as if we're strange creatures to him.

The waitstaff then takes our orders for our mains, I order a Fettuccine Alfredo and Max orders a chicken risotto, before they disappear again.

Max places an assortment of the entrees onto both of our plates, a mix of garlic bread, crusty olive bread, an array of different dips, some feta, and a couple pieces of prosciutto. "Eat up." Max tells me quietly. "It may be a while before the mains come out." He laughs lightly.

I smile over at him and nod. I can feel Dominic's eyes burning into me. I glance up at him and catch his eyes watching me very closely as he takes a sip of what I can only assume is coffee. I offer him the smallest smile before turning my attention away from him and onto the plate of food in front of me instead.