Seto dropped his bag and coat at the floor, closing the door behind him. Restaurant reservation, check. Now to ask for her company this evening. He took the stairs two at a time. "Sophia?" He called. He knocked on her door, but heard no reply. He heard a soft humming from down the hallway. Following the noise, he realised she must still be in the bath. About to knock on the door, he noticed it was ajar. Pushing it slowly with the palm of his hand, he saw the second door was also open. He could just about see the edge of the bath and her right shoulder, attached to the flawless neck she had. Her hair was in a high bun, and she was leaning against the bath, humming to herself.

"Sophia?" He said softly, just to make sure she wasn't startled. She didn't turn, just stopped humming and said: "Seto? Come in, I'm covered!" He walked through the main bathroom, entering the end room. Shutting the door behind him, he realised how peaceful the room really was. It was quiet, and the red really helped to relax him. He made a mental note to use the room more often. He pulled up the small armchair and sat next to her. "Why are you home already?"she asked, her eyes closed. But Seto's mind was elsewhere. The bubbles were thick and luxurious, and he could only see the skin on her chest just above her collarbone, and one of her knees peeking out. How could something so perfect and even exist on a human being? He switched his glance to her neck. She laid with her head to the side, exposing the soft skin of her throat.
"You look tense. Do you need... a neck rub or something?" Sophia rotated her head until she was half looking up at him. Did he mean... HE would rub her neck if she asked? Seto Kaiba would rub her neck? Sophia giggled to herself, picturing him in full work gear, stood up straight, giving her the most rigid neck rub to date.
"No, it's fine, honestly." she said, but she heard rustling behind her, and saw out of the corner of her eye that he had remove his jacket, folding it neatly and laying at across the chair.
"You're my fiancee. Gotta make sure you aren't tense. What would the tabloids say?" he laughed, unbuttoning and pushing his sleeves up. It was strange. She had only seen him in casual clothes a few times, and when she had he was still the epitome of charisma and power, the most demanding presence in a room. Not this nicer, softer, far more approachable man who was kneeling behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders, and rubbed the muscles surrounding her spine with his thumbs. It felt strange to say the least. Seto Kaiba, rubbing her back. If you had told her three months ago she'd have someone like Seto Kaiba pretending to be her fiance, on his knees rubbing her shoulders while she took a luxurious bubble bath, she'd have laughed. That she left Italy, Carlos, her Nonni, and started dancing again... she'd have called you a fool. But here she was, she thought as she stared at the engagement ring on her finger.
"Mmmm." she sighed, closing her eyes and leaning into his touch.
"Feel better?" he asked after five minutes.
"Yeah. a little. Thank you, Seto." she smiled, her eyes still closed.
"Good. Sophia, I was going to ask you something." he said quietly, not wanting to break the calm atmosphere.
"Go ahead." she said simply, opening her eyes and turning slightly to look at him.

For the first time in a very long time, Seto felt his face flush. He hadn't felt himself blush in several years, few things embarrassed him. Asking near strangers to come away on a boat trip with him? Fine. Having every private aspect of your life being splashed across news articles? Great, not even a little flush. False accusations, public propositions from male and female parties, and the most recently, a messy breakup ending in him paying an ex pro basketball player a check for damage to his car were all normal, day to day things for him. But asking his pseudo-fiancee on a date? Brought more colour to his face than cardio.
"Are you okay, Seto? Is it too hot in here?" she asked in a concerned voice.
"Yeah, just a little." her unbuttoned his top button, loosening his tie.
"I was just wondering whether you had plans for tonight?"
"Plans? No. It's a Monday and I have no friends." she laughed. "Well... aside from you. Why? What do you have in mind?"
"Would you like to go to Luigi's?" He was looking at this feet, waiting for her response.
"Yeah! That'd be awesome!" Seto looked back at her, and was greeted by a grin.
"We've not hung out together in a while."
"Okay. I'll... I'll let you get on with your bath."

Sophia finished up curling her hair, she looked herself over. Smoothing down the off the shoulder dark purple pencil dress, she smiled. She always loved this dress. She'd never had a reason to wear it while in Italy, but now, she felt was the right time. A knock came at her door.
"Sophia, are you ready to go?" Seto said from the other side of the door.
"Yep, just a sec!" She fumbled with the strap of her shoe, securing it in place as she stood up again, opening the door. There he was, in a dark navy blazer, a white shirt, black tie, and navy trousers. He wore black Oxford shoes and a smile. A small smile which grew in size when he saw her.
"You look..." Stunning! Gorgeous! Ravishing? Utterly delicious? Pick one, man!
"You look good. Let's go." He ducked away, hiding his blush as best as he could.

Sophia was slightly crestfallen. 'Good?' Is that it? She really had hoped for something a little... more? She followed him out of the house and into the awaiting car.

They pulled up outside the small restaurant, bustling with life. Seto got out first, walked round to Sophia's side, and opened the door for her. As she stood, they heard the commotion to the side of them. A photographer had seen them. Seto grasped her hand in his, and they continued into the small restaurant. A young Japanese man greeted them, no older than sixteen. He bowed at the waist to them, welcoming them to Luigi's Italian restaurant. He looked up, and froze.
"S-s-Sir! Let me just get... someone!" He dashed off with the menu. Sophia looked in Seto's direction, a puzzled look on her face.
"Someone?" Sophia giggled. She heard the camera shutters going off behind her. "How do you ignore that all the time? It's irritating." Sophia said, turning, looking mad. A cameraman was right up behind her.
"Miss Giovanni! Any plans for children?" He asked. How rude! Sophia thought in her head. Frowning, she was about to tell him exactly where he could stick his camera, when Seto turned, all smiles, and said: "Of course! Sophia and I are very career focused at the moment, however, whatever happens, happens." He clasped his arm around her shoulders, kissing the side of her face. The charming, deceptive bastard, she thought fondly.
"Mr Kaiba! I've not seen you in a long time! How is Mokuba?" They both turned back to the entrance of the restaurant, to be greeted by a portly Italian man.
"Hold on, this is your fiancée? Where have you been hiding this gem?" He grinned at her, and clasped a hand between the both of his, shaking it. Sophia smiled at the genuine warmth in his face.
"Italy, mostly. Mr Kaiba visited me so often, he didn't see people in Domino much."
"You are from Italy?" He looked shocked, a happy kind of shocked.
"Siciliane." She smiled.
"So beautiful! I'm a Romano myself. Follow me, you two!" He gestured for them to follow. They walked through the bustling dinning room, through a door, up some stairs, and through another door. It was a room with several circular wooden tables with red table cloths draped over them. They had matching red suede chairs with tall backs and soft padded cushions on the bottom. Each table had a black candelabra, freshly lit. There was an open fire, roaring away to the side, a sheepskin rug laying in front of it. They were seated next to the open fire, and Sophia felt the warmth wash over her.  It was still October, nearly Halloween, and the chill was starting to set in.
"So, you seem friendly with the manager."
"Owner. His name is Luigi. Just like his father, and his father." Seto sat across from her, and began telling him the story of how they had met.
"When my stepfather died, Mokuba and I came to this side of town to get rid of some of his things. At the end of the day, we were so damn tired and hungry, we came into the first restaurant we could find. As it was just us two, the waiting staff assumed we were waiting for parents. Twenty minutes pass by and we aren't seated, so I asked the first man I could find. Which, turned out, was Luigi. I told him how ignorant the staff were, how hungry we were. He looked at me over his spectacles and asked me where my parents were. I was so angry I just snapped: "Dead." And he nodded, stood up, and took us up here, away from everyone else. He brought us food, so much food. After we were done, I asked him to bring the bill, and he became confused. Turns out he thought we were street kids. A common problem in Domino ten years ago. After I explained what had happened from when we were in the orphanage, right up until our step father died, he told me that my brother and I were welcome any time we wanted. And we've been coming ever since." He gave a half smile, remembering. This was the first she was hearing about his parents, or his step father. She had heard from her dad that his actual parents had died when he was young in a car crash, but that was all.
"What's wrong?"
"You just haven't told me about your parents. You knew about mine from the beginning." She waited. He stiffened, clearing his throat.
"You're right."
"You don't have to-"
"No. I should. It will help you understand the way I am. What do you know?"
"Well... Dad told me your parents had died in a car crash when you and Mokuba were young."
"That's the official story. The officers close to the case and I believe it was homicide. The brake line had been cut, however the official report says they failed due to wear and tear. But my dad owned his own mechanics business, and he could strip an engine and put it back together in ten minutes. His cars were always in pristine condition. But the car was crushed and disposed of, therefore all evidence was destroyed. They crashed headlong into a wall in the industrial area. After the company was liquidised, we were passed from family member to family member, until our original fortune was gone, and then we were put into the orphanage. There, Mokuba and I had each other, and that was it. He was always picked on because of how small he was. Now, from an early age, I showed that I was gifted. I was undefeated at chess. I had won all of the local little league championships, and there was talks of sending me international. One day, in the rec room, Mokuba and I were watching the chess championships on the tv. That's the first time I saw my stepfather. There he was, rich, smart, his own company. I knew I had to challenge him, I knew he was far too proud a man to turn down a challenge, even if it was from a child. He came to the orphanage, and made him promise to adopt my brother and I when I won. He agreed, not realising he would lose, miserably. So he took us home. And then started the lessons. Eleven hours a day, constant reading and research. I thrived, Mokuba, not so much. Plus, our stepfather was not as forgiving towards Mokuba. He used to hit him when I wasn't there. He'd never tell me, but I knew as soon as I saw him something was going on behind my back."
"Poor Mokie."
"Yeah. So I decided to start irritating our teachers, purposefully going against them to distract them from Mokuba. One day, Gozaburo got so mad he picked me up by the throat and threw me across the room. I landed on a glass coffee table."
"Oh my God. Did it- did it scar?"
"Yes. Pretty badly."
"Seto-" she reached her hand out and grasped his. He stiffened, then relaxed.
"But that didn't work. I realised quickly he used abusing Mokuba as a way to make me work harder. So I decided to act like Mokuba didn't matter anymore. Which hurt him, badly. He was alone while I spent my hours with Gozaburo, So. One day he came to me with a challenge. Take a million dollars, pay it back tenfold in a year. Instead, it took me two weeks. He had previously awarded both Mokuba and I 2% of Kaiba Corp stock. My stepfather had a board of associates with significant portions of stock. I cut a deal with them concerning their stock, which meant I had 49% of Kaiba Corp under my belt. That also meant, unless Mokuba said otherwise, our stepfather would still hold the majority. But Mokuba, being the loyal brother even after I deceived and hurt him, told us he was giving it to me. After that, Gozaburo jumped out of the window of the office I'm in now."

Sophia was dumb struck. And she thought she'd had a hard upbringing. She squeezed his hand again.
"After everything had went to myself as I was the rightful heir at that moment, I decided the world had seen enough war. I shut down the arms dealing contracts, closed the factories, and reopened Kaiba Corporation as a gaming company."
"How did you do that? You were like fourteen when that happened, right?"
"At this point, I was on a Young and Gifted course, which is where I got my Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT alongside my middle school education. I currently teach classes at Domino High School, for free. It's the best way to find potential employees. I normally offer several people apprenticeships after their high school education finishes. It's a good way to keep unemployment amongst young high school graduates that opt to not carry on to college down."
"That's insane! Seto, you should be proud of yourself. Not many can boast they were a CEO and had a bachelors degree at such a young age."
"Yeah, I guess you could look at it that way. Anyway, let's get some food. I'm starving!"

After they had eaten, and drank their way through two bottles of wine, they both sat on the rug in front of the fire with a third between them. Sophia had shed her shoes, and Seto had removed his jacket and tie, unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt.
"Sophia. I have something to ask you."
"Go on..." Sophia laid on her side, propping her head on her arm. Seto sat up straight, clearing his throat.
"I think... I think we should move the wedding forward." Sophia looked at him.
"Move it forward? Why? Wouldn't that look strange? The world has known about me for a month. "
"Well after you said you thought you'd seen him, I decided to put my- your mind at ease and confirm he was still in Italy. I spoke to his employer who told me a family member had passed away so he had to go help arrange the funeral. So I contacted his family. No one had passed away. He told his mother that he was going away to help set up a new shop overseas. Tracking his travels via airport security cameras-"
"Wait. They let you see airport footage?" he looked at her with an insulted face.
"Do you know how good I am at hacking?"
"No."
"I'll give you a hint; I'm one of the best.  So I checked the cameras, and lo and behold, he boarded a plane to Japan from Italy about three weeks ago." he looked at her gravely.
Sophia sat still, she was shocked.
"When were you thinking?" she asked, still.
"I spoke to your dad and he and I both think it's best if it was as soon as possible. Next week?" he turned his body to face her, a hesitant expression on his face. If she was feeling shocked before, what was she feeling now? Seto stared at her face, gauging her reaction. To his surprise, she visibly steeled herself and said;
"Okay Seto, I'll do it."
Sophia watched as Seto's face split into a genuine grin. He ducked his dead, trying to smother the smile.
"It does a lot for the ego, you know. Someone saying yes to marrying you." he laughed lowly.
"So I'm just an ego boost to you?" she pushed him slightly in a playful manner, noticing the closeness between them.
"No." he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. He brought his lips to hers. At first, it was a small, shy kiss. But after a few moments of painfully slow movement, he began biting her bottom lip lightly, and the kiss became harder. More passionate. Sophia pressed her body to him, climbing onto his lap, not once breaking contact. Seto broke contact with her, taking a breath.
"Dessert?"  he asked, a coy smile playing on his lips. Sophia groaned.
"Take me home?"

The limo ride home was frustrating at best. Seto's hand rubbed her thigh, his thumb making slow, torturous circles. Sophia couldn't stop running her finger along his exposed wrist, or a hand through his hair. They talked quietly together, their faces a mere two inches from each others face, their eyes staying locked. Arriving at home, they walked through the door, dropped their coats, and put their arms around each other . Their mouths found each other again, picking up where they left off. Sophia made light, quick work of the rest of the buttons on his shirt. But as her hands crept towards his belt, he shook his head and broke the kiss.
"Sophia... no." He still held her close, but would pull away from her when she tried to kiss him again.
"Why not?" she whispered, groaning slightly.
"Because, you're drunk." he said sternly.
"So? Do you not want to sleep with me?"she asked, hurt. She looked physically deflated, trying to
"Yes. I do. You're a beautiful woman Sophia, and honestly I would love nothing more than to rip this dress off of you and to take you right here. But I also respect you far too much to do this while you aren't fully coherent."
"Oh." she said simply.
"Come on, let's go to bed." He led her upstairs, into his room. Sophia hadn't been in there before, and she was impressed. The room itself was huge, almost a studio apartment of its own. Dark grey painted walls, full length windows with floor to ceiling black curtains, plush grey carpet. The bed was against the back wall. It was a grand king bed, with a black frame and four posters. There were curtains around the bed. There was a television mounted on the wall in front of a jet black two person sofa. There were tables dotted around the room. A walk in wardrobe was built into the left side of the wall, and there was a door leading to another bathroom.
"Wow. Now this is a bachelor pad." Sophia laughed, pulling her heels off and making a run for the bed, diving. "So comfy!"
"Sophia you need to put some clothes on. You'll be uncomfortable."
"Noooooo. Don't wanna." she closed her eyes, smiling. Sighing, Seto took her dress off and put one of his large t shirts on her instead, all the while trying to avert his eyes.
"You're tickling me."
"Shhhhh. Go to sleep." he said quietly. He began to undress himself, and he was looking for comfy sweats and t shirt for himself.

Sophia watched as he changed, peeking slightly. The dim lighting of the bedside lamp cast shadows across his body, which was lean, the skin even. He turned away from her, and she saw the scars on his back. Many had been deep, as they were raised now. He had been through too much at such a young age. They were quickly covered by a white t shirt. As he turned around, she shut her eyes tight and waited for him to get into bed. She felt the warmth of him behind her, and the bedside lamp turned off.
"You're so warm." she murmured. He brushed the curls out of her face, and traced circles at the small of her back.
"So are you." he whispered. He kissed the side of her face, pulling her closer. "Goodnight, Sophia."
"Goodnight, Seto."