DIRTY MONEY

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*it's still part two; I just didn't title it as such.

The Name on Your Necklace...

While talking, a waiter brought over Bianca's drink. She had forgotten that she even submitted a mojito as her beverage, not bothered by the wait since there were plenty of guests there.

They were then asked what they would desire to eat, Bianca ordering exactly what she came here for and requesting extra parasean on her pasta. She may not have minded eating a messy dish like mussels in front of him, but she refused to be drunk off her ass this early on. She had to set the mojito to the side even though it was good, but the excessive amount of rum would leave her slightly tipsy.

She wanted to remember this time with him and not embarrass herself by tripping over her feet and slurring.

Alvaro noticed her lack of desire to finish her drink, among other things, but he also noticed how she was wearing the same necklace that she wore the very first time they met. The words engraved into the accent plate spelled 'Elaine,' and he was aware that it couldn''t have been her middle name because her middle name was Chanel.

He looked into the small stuff, like her name and address, but he didn't do a deep dive to avoid the temptation of pursuing her. But now things were different, so that also meant he could just ask her questions.

"It's my mother's name," Bianca said in response to his question about the name on her necklace, her fingers lightly grazing it as she went on, "it was hers, and I wear it to keep her with me."

"How old were you when she passed?" he asked, now getting why she wore someone else's name close to her heart.

"Eight," she said, causing his brows to lift.

"You remember what she was like?"

Bianca shook her head and said, "not much; it's kind of a blur, but I do hear all the time that she was a great woman and that I look a lot like her," Alvaro stared at her with a light frown, seeing the pain behind her eyes even though she had a soft smile on her face, "my aunt did the best she could with raising me all by herself, so I'm very grateful to have her in my life."

He notices how she left out her father, and seeing that she might not want to talk about it, he asks, "that's ya mom's sister?"

"Yeah. It doesn't even feel like she's an aunt because we're that close. We look out for each other."

"Like family should," he said, causing a smile to appear on her face.

Dorinda was there for Bianca when no one else wanted to. Besides her mother, that was the only person who ever cared about her. Yeah, it wasn't always easy for either of them, but they were family. And despite not knowing too many relatives, Bianca cherished Dorinda, Sophie, Ruth, and Hilda and her family as family.

Bianca sits up a little and asks, "what about you? Life with ya parents is less traumatic than mine?"

Alvaro says, "my parents aren't perfect, but they're family, and I love em'."

"Tell me about them," she said, sitting up fully, her interest fully peaked.

Alvaro takes a quick glance at those behind her, "they were good parents, but their personal relationship was built off of an arranged marriage, so that alone was a strain on them," Alvaro said. His father was next in line to be don, and since having a wife was a requirement for a crime boss at the time, Amadeo's father found him options to choose from. His parents were far from perfect and had experienced ups and downs, but they never let the bad outweigh the good.

"That's a thing?" she asks with shock after the reason for the arrangement was explained: "I would have never known. So, does this mean you're gonna be next?"