Bart opens the door of the Charger to let Scorpia in and sits down behind the wheel quickly. He drives over to the cafe and parks in the driveway. She's already out of the car, on her way to Logan. Bart smiles and grabs her sports bag from the backseat. He saunters into the cafe and looks for Scorpia.

He finds her in Logan's arms and they seem to have forgotten that they are not alone.

Bart sits down at the bar and looks at the blonde woman next to him. She looks at Scorpia and Logan with a smile on her face. "Dani, right?" The woman looks at him and nods. Bart holds his hand out to her and says: "Bart. Scorpia's driver and bodyguard."

She looks him over and says: "You look pretty beat up for a bodyguard."

He grins and says: "Scorpia did this to me." He doesn't elaborate and orders a beer from Marco. He takes a sip and says: "You look less distraught than I expected."

Logan laughs and pulls Scorpia with him into the kitchen en Dani watches them with a smile. "I'm grateful that I didn't manage to break that up. Because if they don't make it, none of us will." She takes a sip of her wine and looks at Bart.

Bart stares into her eyes and says: "I didn't expect something like that coming from you, after everything I've heard about you. But we can only hope for a love half as special as theirs."

Logan comes from the kitchen and stands behind the bar. He looks at Bart and asks: "Scorpia or Bruno?" Bart grins and Logan nods. "And? Bruised ego?"

"Hell no. I wanted to train with a big boxer. I just didn't know I was already working for her."

Scorpia walks back into the cafe and laughs at his comment. "I'd like to see you two box against each other when Logan's hand is healed. You have the same style. I only have Ricardo left as an option. He just misses a bit of technique."

Barts asks: "What? That hulk? Seriously boss?"

Scorpia laughs and says: "Yes, that hulk. I can't hit him if he sticks to defense."

She blows a kiss at Logan and says: "I'll be right back. I need to get out of these clothes." She disappears through the door at the other end of the cafe.

Dani looks from Bart to Logan and back and asks: "You've boxed against Scorpia?"

Logan and Bart both answer: "Yes."

"And lost?"

The guys answer yes in unison again and Danni's eyes almost pop out of her head.

"Which means I've been lucky."

Logan and Bart happily exclaim: "Yes!"

They both chuckle and Dani's face turns a pale green.

Scorpia comes back into the cafe, barefoot and wearing one of Logan's shirts. Logan follows her with his eyes and she sits down next to Bart. Bart stares at her legs and Logan clears his throat. Bart looks up at him with a grin on his lips.

Scorpia doesn't notice and puts her head down on the bar.

"Bonnie? Are you hungry?"

She lifts her head up and nods.

"Pizza?"

She smiles and asks: "Devastazione and Diavola?"

Logan winks at her and sends a message to mister Gentile.

He walks around the bar and picks her up. He carries her to one of the benches near the window, sits down on it with her on his lap, and kisses her neck. "Mmmm, did you steal my shower gel again?"

She nods and suddenly gasps. "Logan! Your hand!"

"What about it, Bonnie?"

"You just carried me!"

Logan smiles and asks: "So?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Bonnie. I got a strength boost when I saw Bart stare at your legs."

She laughs softly and asks: "How were things with Dani?"

"Good Bonnie. You were right."

"I'm glad."

He kisses her slow, before saying: "I got some weird photo's from Ciro. Photo's that show Dino licking your pictures in the topless bar."

Scorpia thinks about her conversation with Bruno and is relieved when she sees a Gentile nephew come in with a couple of Pizza boxes. He puts them down on their table and wishes them a good meal.

Logan lifts her from his lap, gets up, and asks: "Wine?"

Scorpia nods at him, looks for the Devastazione and as soon as she finds it, she grabs a slice and takes a bite.

She looks up when she hears Bart ask: "Can I sit down here with you?"

She nods and raises her voice: "Dani? Do you want pizza too?"

She sees the lawyer gasp for air, but she gets up in the end. She sits down next to Bart, across from Scorpia.

Scorpia notices their shocked expressions as they stare at the Devastazione. She chuckles and Logan places a glass of wine in front of her.

He sits down on the bench next to her and says: "I know what it looks like, but look at her face when she takes a bite."

Bart looks at the blissful expression on Scorpia's face and grabs a slice of the pizza too. He takes a bite and as soon as he has swallowed it, he says: "Wow! That tastes great!"

Scorpia winks at him and Dani tries a bite too. She says: "Okay, I'll admit it. It tastes a lot better than it looks. But what the hell is on there? It's going to make you sick for sure."

Logan opens a different box and slides it her way. Her eyes go wide as soon as she sees the type of pizza in front of her.

Scorpia looks from Logan to Dani and asks: "Am I missing something?"

Dani says: "No. I just didn't expect a pizza Vegetariana to be here."

Logan asks: "Is it still your favorite?"

Dani nods and picks up a slice.

Scorpia grabs her wine and gulps half of it down. She stares out of the window and Bart quickly asks: "Did you always train with Bruno?"

She shoots him a grateful look for the distraction. "Yes. I sort of made him ten years ago. I told him that if he didn't want to teach me, I would learn it on the streets. And that's how it started."

"Did you fight in any official fights?"

"Yes, but they became boring fast. Because they only allowed me to fight females in official tournaments and matches. Bruno has DVDs full of KO's in the first minute."

Bart chuckles and says: "Yes if it's that easy, it's no fun. They might have been happy with you for the illegal fights."

"Oh hell no. Those Italian bastards don't tolerate women in that world."

"But that tournament..."

"They only found out I was a woman after the first guy got knocked out."

Bart nods.

Logan asks: "What do you know about that tournament, Bart?"

"Not much. I only saw the clip of the blonde woman in the Catwoman mask. And found out who that was tonight."

Dani raises her eyebrows and looks at Bart and then at Logan. "I've seen that video... Who was it?"

She looks at Scorpia and she says: "Meow."

Dani turns green and runs to the bathroom.

Scorpia smirks and takes another sip of her wine.

Logan asks: "Did you have to do that?"

Bart clears his throat and tries to warn him, but he already sees the anger flash through Scorpia's eyes.

"Did you have to order her favorite pizza?"

Logan looks into her eyes and sees the anger.

"Get up Logan. I want to get off this bench."

He gets up, scared to make matters worse.

Scorpia runs through the door to the stairs and Logan stares at the closed door.

Bart mumbles: "I tried, but dammit Logan."

Logan looks at him all confused.

"I asked about boxing because I saw how much it hurt her that you ordered Dani's favorite pizza. Scorpia tried to be nice. And on top of that, you scold her for saying meow. Morron. Why is that bitch still here?"

Dani comes back from the bathroom and sits down next to Bart again. Logan looks at the blonde woman across from him and runs his fingers through his hair with a sigh.

Dani asks: "Where's Scorpia?"

Bart says: "Ask Logan. Could you get up for a second? I want to go home cause I'm suddenly not hungry anymore." Dani gets up and Bart walks out of the cafe without saying another word.

Dani sits down a bit stunned and looks at Logan.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and asks: "I shouldn't have ordered that pizza, right?"

"The Vegetariana? No, I wouldn't have appreciated that if I was in her shoes. And the casual way you slid that box over to me... And to top it off you asking me if it's still my favorite..."

"Fucking hell."

"Logan, go to her. Because I'm betting she thinks there was a lot more between us now. How would you know my favorite pizza if there wasn't? And why would you go through all that trouble to order it for me, if you don't want to be with me?"

Logan stands up and yells: "I don't want to be with you!"

"Logan, I know that. But she doesn't! You idiot!" Dani gets up, grabs the box with the Vegetariana in it, and walks out the door.

Logan makes eye contact with Marco, who gives him a nod and Logan makes his way over to stairs. He tries to swallow the lump in his throat down and climbs the stairs. 

When he reaches the top of the stairs he sees her lying on the couch in foetal position with a blanket covering her. When he moves closer he hears her sob and that sound breaks his heart.

"Bonnie?" He carefully puts his hand on her shoulder and sees a flash of her bloodshot eyes, before she pulls the blanket over her head. He prays to every god out there for help, because he has no clue what to do now. "Scorpia?" He can tell she's still crying and softly asks: "Do you want me to go?"

She raises her head and looks him dead in the eye. "Yes. Go. Go to Dani."

"But I don't want to go to Dani."

"Too bad. I don't want to look at you!"

Logan gets up and goes downstairs, back into the cafe. Marco shoots him a questioning look, but Logan shakes his head.

He feels his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulls it out to see who sent him a message. It's from Bruno. A video from earlier tonight. He watches Scorpia box against Bruno.

Video from tonight!
She already beat Bart before this.
And did you see the pics of Dino?
Probably not, cause Scorpia couldn't
wait to go home to you.
Have fun man!
Have a good weekend!
I'll see you Sunday!

Logan feels the tears stream down his cheeks and walks into the kitchen. He sinks down on one of the chairs and feels completely lost. He didn't even think for a second that asking Dani to stay for a drink wasn't smart. He thought it would show that they talked it out. And then the whole pizza disaster.

He feels nothing for that woman and she finally realizes that too. It was never love. But Scorpia... She seemed so strong when she came in and when she invited Dani to the table for pizza... His love for Scorpia is such a certainty that he didn't see a problem. He loves her and her alone. He rubs his eyes and moans.

Marco looks into the kitchen and says: "Logan? The last guest has gone home." Logan looks up at him and Marco sees the pain in the eyes of the Scot. "Logan? Can I tell you something?" Logan nods.

"She's really strong and confident. But she has one huge weak spot. There's only one person in this world that can pull her from the shadows. Only one she gave her heart to. And that's special and beautiful, but at the same time terrifying. Because if that person breaks your heart, your whole life falls apart."

Logan shoots Marco a defeated look and says: "I want to be with her forever. The last thing I want to do is hurt her."

"You don't realize the extent of the love she has for you. She loves you so much, that it's impossible not to hurt her. Her biggest fear is losing you. So even the smallest amount of doubt feels like a stab with a knife. You are completely sure about your love for her, but take the time to let it sink in how much she loves you. She regretted killing Salvatore the second she found out you were missing. She would have thrown away ten years of meticulously planned revenge if it would mean finding you."

Logan holds his hand to his chest as he takes ragged breaths.

"She didn't kill Dani the first time she had the chance. For you. She kept her as a lawyer, for you. She talked to Dani, for you. She told you to talk to Dani. All to show you how much she trusts you. Al selfless acts, while her heart bleeds at the thought of her becoming part of your life. The woman who knows what it's like to have sex with you. The woman who claimed to love you. The woman who had the audacity to kiss you in this kitchen. Who wasn't ashamed of her behavior at first. Who even fucked two of her brothers to hurt her."

Marco slams his fist against the wall and says: "All the guys Scorpia ever loved, hurt her an awful lot. All besides Bruno. It's a pure miracle that she's still alive. A lesser woman would have used that blade on herself."

Logan looks at Marco, tears streaming down his face and Marco says: "I kept all of this inside for so long that it came out like a tidal wave. I'm sorry." Marco walks out through the back door and Logan breathes out slowly.

"Fuck."

Logan locks the back door and walks into the cafe to grab the pizza boxes. He turns all the lights off and drags himself upstairs. When he reaches the top, he finds Scorpia sitting up and staring at a spot on the wall above the tv. He put the boxes down on the table and sits down on the couch as far away from her as possible.

He turns to face her and takes in her tear-stained cheeks and that small body in his big T-shirt.

She softly asks: "Why was she still here?"

"Because I asked her to stay for a drink."

"Why?"

"Because I thought that would show that there's nothing between her and me. That we'd talked things through."

"And the pizza?"

"They made me handle the pizza orders for the illegal fight crew. And if I got one of the twenty pizza's wrong, they'd beat me up. So that's why I remembered which one Dani liked. I still remember all of them."

Scorpia sighs softly.

"Bonnie, I got a lecture from three different people since you ran upstairs."

"Who?"

"Bart, Dani, and Marco. Bart called me a morron and said there was only so much he could do while I was being stupid. Dani called me an idiot. And Marco? He gave me a lecture that still gives me chills thinking about it."

Scorpia looks at him and says: "Marco doesn't talk much, but observes and listens all the more. He stores it all in his brain. But when he does talk, everybody listens. Because it's always the cold-hearted truth. Because he only speaks up when he can't keep it inside anymore. And the emotion behind it, makes it all come out unfiltered."

Logan nods and takes a shaky breath. "Bonnie. I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about Logan?"

"That I didn't see how difficult it was for you. I'm so sure of our love that the thought that something could cause doubt never crossed my mind. Or realize that it just hurts to see your partners ex regularly. Especially when she's such a bitch."

Scorpia says softly: "Loving you is beautiful and painful at the same time. I love you so much that it hurts. And that results in me acting tough to hide the pain. While I dream of various ways to kill Dani in my sleep."

She cries without sound and Logan asks: "Can I come closer?"

She nods barely visible, but he sees it.

He jumps up and rushes over to her, wrapping his arms around her. She starts to sob and he rubs her back. "Bonnie. Ti amo. And I will probably fuck up again in the future because I know nothing about love. The only thing I know for sure is that we belong together, forever. I love you so much. More than my own life."

She looks up at him: "Don't you ever say that again! Because if you wouldn't be alive, I wouldn't be either."

"Bonnie, if I could save you by giving my own life, I would do it in a heartbeat. And don't even try to tell me it's not the same the other way around."

She stares deep into his eyes and sighs. "You're right. I just hope we never have to make that choice." 

────────────────

And there it was. The predicted drama. Thought about ending it earlier.

But didn't feel like leaving you hanging. 

Already working on the next one. 

It might be up today when things go smoothly.

No promises though.

Have a good Sunday!

XO Hankie.