"Now then let's get everything in order," Lila says walking back over to her side of the desk "Tell me everything I need to know about this Tony and the situation" she reaches across and fixes the bigger photo frame angling it more in the light.

Nathanael notices sadness cloud in her eyes as she gazes at it and wonders if it is a photo of her father. He shakes his head a little, forehead creasing as he tries to think of all he should tell her.

"Tony…he's may be dangerous to the likes of me but I'm guessing from all I've seen he's more like the rat while you're the cat…"

"I would prefer being a fox" Lila walks to the window, Nathanael catches her grinning reflection. His eyes roll at her words.

"Fine, you're the fox and he's the rat" he watches as Lila nods.

"Anything else?" she prompts, looking over her shoulder.

"Um…oh yeah, they're expecting the money tomorrow morning…" Nathanael bows her head.

Lila turns around "So they wanted you to fail all along I'm guessing" her expression turns grim. "How long did they give you to raise the funds?"

Nathanael's brows furrow "Uh, I think it was around a few weeks, they did add on an extra week once I uh, asked but that was it" he rubs the back of his neck.

Lila sighs "This situation isn't looking good" she mutters.

"What do you mean?" Nathanael snaps. Lines creasing his forehead as his mouth tightened to a solid line.

Lila looks up, opens her mouth then closes it. "Don't worry about it, the morning will give us a clearer mind" Nathanael can tell she is forcing the smile on her face "I'm sure your as tired as am I, it's been a long day"

She moves across the room towards the door then stops a few steps from Nathanael. He blinks as he realises, she is staring intently at him. Before he can ask Lila steps closer and moves her hand over his face pushing back his hair, to see both his eyes. Her eyes widen.

Nathanael flushes and opens his mouth to protest "W-what-"

"I must say Mr Kurtzberg you could break a few hearts if you tidied yourself up," Lila says. She finally steps back and removes her hand, the curtain of hair falling back over one of his blue eyes. His body heats up as he watches her sizing him up, he feels as if she is imagining what lay beneath the clothes. When his gaze locks with her green eyes sparkling with mischief, he knows he is right. "Do you mind?" he snaps.

"Oh, I don't mind at all" she purrs back, red lips drawing back in a smirk. She finally looks away much to his relief. "Remind me to tell Kagami that we're going shopping in the morning," Lila says as she walks to the door of the study.

"What for?" Nathanael asks, his feet moving to follow her.

They head back out into the landing covered in the red carpet. Instead of heading down the stairs Lila turns to go past more rooms down a long corridor. "A suit of course" she glances over her shoulder.

"I don't mean to be rude but I'm not sure a suit would be the best for your figure" Nathanael quips.

Lila stands by a door, a hand rested on the doorknob. "How would you know? You've yet to see me in a suit" she looks at him with an arched brow "and you won't" she opens the door and walks in. Nathanael swiftly follows. "The suit is for you, but I know you already knew that"

Nathanael decides to stop the joking, his lips drawing in a tight line "I don't need charity you know" he brushes down his scuffed blazer "My clothes mightn't look the best, I know, but I have no need for a suit"

"It isn't Charity, Mr Kurtzberg" Lila smiles "You better learn this now I suppose, I like my men in suits" she winks "And as I said, you'd be quite the looker if you tidied yourself up"

He frowns despite the redness growing in his cheeks "Fine if you're going to be stubborn about it"

"Good," Lila says, she runs a hand along the curved bedframe "Now I suggest you get some sleep, we have a busy day ahead of us"

"Wait this is my room, what about my stuff at my apartment?" Nathanael exclaims.

Lila chew on her lower lip "Do you have anything important, worth a lot of value?"

"Of course, I do!" Nathanael throws his arms wide "There's my camera for one and also my paints-"

Lila's eyebrows raise "Paints?"

Nathanael stops, cheeks reddening "Yes, I'm an artist…at least I like to consider myself one"

"You're certainly full of surprises" Lila chuckles. "How about you write a list, I'll send two of my men around to collect it all, much safer that way don't you think?"

Nathanael reluctantly nods. He didn't like the thought of strangers touching his things, but he was sure Tony's goons had heard of his mysterious departure and would be sniffing around. "They'll need the key, that's if they haven't already broken the door down" he searches through his pockets then grasps the key on a thin chain. He holds it out to Lila.

"Thank you, I'll make sure your stuff gets to you safely," she says, pocketing the key. "Now please try to get some rest" she walks out, heels tapping against the wood. The door softly shuts behind her.

Nathanael puts a hand on the soft bedding, a red quilt with golden leaves embroidered within it. It was certainly soft to the touch. He decided to sit and rest his tired bones. He was not going to sleep though.

'How I do truly trust her…'

He knows he can't, at least not yet. For all, he knows she could be downstairs laughing with that Kagami about how much of dumbbell he was. He scans the room to keep his eyes awake. It was a far fancier bedroom than his own at home.

His at the apartment had been about the size of a storage closet with one narrow metal bed with a crummy mattress, one small set of drawers to hold his few belongings and a some faded blue curtains which had a few moth holes along the bottom. Compared to that, the double bed with all the comforts one would need seemed like a luxury for a king to him, yet here he was sitting on one.

He gazed around the room, eyes taking in every last detail. The rouge coloured curtains had already been pulled shut. He wondered what kind of view lay behind them but fought off the curiosity, he felt far too tired to get up and investigate.

A closet stood in the corner, dark wood with a curved curled design at the top like a sort of twisting dragon. His eyes wandered away from it as his ears focused in on the sound of ticking that filled the room coming from a grandfather clock. Nathanael noticed the distinct shape of a small fox with the letter 'R' resting between its body and tail cut out on the top edge. While his mind wondered what that meant he cast tired eyes around the rest of the room and looked at the bookcase, much smaller than the one he had seen in the study, this one only had a few books on the bottom two levels. The top two lay empty. Nathanael blinked his eyes hoping to remain awake. Every inch of his body was already screaming at him to sleep he wanted to fight it.

'Lying down for a few minutes won't hurt'

He moves his legs up while kicking off his shoes. His body sinks into the soft mattress and his eyes close for a few seconds before he forces them open again. 'Can't sleep…' his eyes close again, he lets them rest then opens them wide blinking 'What if it's a trap…I mean she seems nice…but can't be sure…' he yawns. Pushing up his pillow, he rests his head on it. Slowly his eyes shut and this time they do not open as quiet snores start to drift out of him.

When Nathanael's eyes finally crack open he is first aware of the faint light drifting through the cracks of the curtain.

He sits up and stretches. 'I'm not dead…at least I think I'm not' He sits up, swinging his legs over the bed to rest his feet upon the floor. He looks at the ground letting his body finish waking. Then stuffs his feet in his shoes, fixing the backs on tight before standing up. He pushes the curtains open and morning sunlight warms the room. He stops and stares at the quiet neighbourhood scenery. More terrace houses line the street below. He notices that the Rossi terrace house is the only one with stone pillars bearing statue animals. He drags himself away from the window and towards the door. He opens it and heads out when his foot connects with something. He grabs onto the doorframe to stop himself tripping then looks down. A brown cardboard box lays at his feet. The flaps are open, and he can see his belongings are in the box, a letter lay on top. He crouches down and picks it up eyes scanning over it.

Here are most of your belongings, well, the ones

we could fit in a box at least.

I forgot to get that list from you and

when I went came to ask you, I found you fast asleep.

(did anyone ever tell you that you're quite cute asleep)

Nathanael pauses from reading to frown, face flushing at the fact Lila had been watching him sleep.

Your camera and art supplies are all there I made sure.

~ Lila x

He rolls his eyes at the 'x' she ends the letter with. Even in writing, she had to be a flirt someway. Picking up the box he heads back inside the room and places it on the bed.

As soon as he reaches the end of the stairs, he finds Kagami standing in wait for him. "Ah, Mr Kurtzberg, Lila asked me to tell you that she would like you to join her for breakfast, in that room just down the corner" she points.

"Okay, thank you," he says. Then he makes his way down the hall, the soft thuds of his feet sounding louder in the quietness of the house. He comes to the room Kagami had pointed towards, the door is closed but not shut, he pushes it open. He is attacked by the smell of eggs, bacon and toast.

He walks in and is greeted by Lila's energetic voice, far too energetic for the early morning.

"Ah, you came just in time, I'm serving up!" she smiles. She stands behind the kitchen isle holding a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other.

He raises an eyebrow at the fact she is cooking breakfast. He hadn't imagined her as the little wife type. He watches as she uses the spatula to take one egg off the frying pan and place alongside the bacon and toast on one plate. Then the second egg goes on the other plate containing the same amount of bacon and slice of toast. Lila looks up at him watching and grins "Well, don't just stand there gawking, this food ain't going to eat itself"

He approaches "You cooked this?"

Lila rolled her eyes "No, the ghost of my Nonna did, of course, I cooked it!"

"No need to get snarky" Nathanael mutters.

"Now what do you want to drink, tea, orange, coffee?" Lila asks, turns to the cupboards that line the walls.

"Coffee please" Nathanael replies. He picks up the plate nearest to him. Lila glances over at him "You can sit down with that, I'll just make this coffee for you"

"If you're sure?"

"You're my guest, I can't be expecting you to make your own coffee," Lila says then waves him towards the round table positioned just at the window, a small lace cloth lay upon it.

Nathanael placed his plate down noticing the knife and fork already set down for him. He sits down and doesn't have to wait long until Lila places a cup of hot coffee beside him, the steam rising up and curling in the air.

She sits opposite him with her own plate and cup of coffee. She gets stuck into eating her breakfast while Nathanael glances down at it suspiciously. He prods the egg with a fork, his brows furrowing and his nose screwing up. He looks up when he hears Lila melodic laughter fill the room. "It's not poisoned if that's what you're worried about"

He smirks "Maybe not intentionally"

Lila frowns "If my food isn't good enough for you then you don't have to eat it!"

His eyes widen as he realises he had offended her. "No, I'm sorry" he offers an apologetic smile "I meant that as a joke, sorry, your cooking looks wonderful, truly"

Lila finally smiles again "Then you better eat it before it gets cold"

"Will do," he says, then takes his knife and fork cutting into the egg.

"So, do you think this Tony will be sniffing out for you today?" Lila asks.

Nathanael swallows "Uh, he'll probably just send his goons around"

A smirk appears on Lila's face, eyes narrowing villainously. "Brilliant, that way they can deliver a little message"

"A message?"

"Oh, yes, see I've got a good team and Kagami is good at getting information on everyone and this Tony fella well with what I've got on him we won't have to fork over a dollar" Lila chuckles, then bites into her slice of toast.

Nathanael's eyebrows raise finally understanding how high the Rossi's must be in the gang world. He looks down at his plate "So we're going to go see them now?"

"Course not" Lila laughs "I like to keep them waiting and don't you forget we've got to get you suited up" she scraped her chair back and stood up. "Now come on Picasso, we've got work to do!"

Nathanael raises a brow at the new nickname but makes no comment. Standing up and following her out.

They walk down the hallway and Nathanael can see Kagami waiting at the front door. Lila approaches her "Kagami I presume the car is ready"

"Yes, tinted windows as you wished" Kagami responds "Do you want me to accompany you?"

"No need for that yet, maybe later" Lila winks as she takes a green flight jacket with black fur around the neck from the coat hanger and puts it over her cream short-sleeved chiffon blouse. "We best be going, Mr Lumiere can be quite impatient"

"Is he some important…contact" Nathanael asks, following her out the door.

Lila laughs "You could say that"

They walk down the steps, Lila just a little ahead when Nathanael stops staring intently at the statues that had sparked his interest the first time he saw them.

"The statues" he calls out.

Lila stops on the last step turning around "Excuse me?"

"Ah, the statues are foxes, right?" he questions "But they have more than one tail…"

Lila smiles looking at the statues "They're foxes, yes, but not the kind you may be familiar with"

Nathanael raises an eyebrow "A fox is a fox is it not?"

Lila chuckles "No, that is a kitsune, a Japanese fox spirit"

"Oh," Nathanael mutters looking at the statues with new eyes.

Then Lila walks on to the car. "Come on, Picasso, or we'll be late"

Nathanael nods, rushing down the steps and clambering into the car beside her.

After driving through busy traffic they pull up along a shop. It is painted black and on the swinging sign painted in white lettering the words: Lumiere's Suits is displayed. Lila opens her door as it is nearer the sidewalk. Nathanael moves across and gets out her door as well to avoid being hit by any of the speeding cars.

Lila pushes the door open, the bell jingles. Nathanael follows a step behind the Italian as they enter the dressmakers or well, suit makers shop.

The red curtains in the back flutter then they slide open. An old man with salt and pepper hair, an impressive moustache and lines on his face indicating his age stands there and a grin lights up his face when he sees Lila. "Mademoiselle Lila, it feels like a forever since I last saw you!"

"Mr Lumiere, I must apologise for being late, the traffic was hell" Lila chuckles.

"That does not matter!" Mr Lumiere rushes forward taking Lila's hands in his "You must know I wept when I heard of what happened to your father, He was a good man, I'm sorry"

Lila smiles ruefully "Thank you…you know he would only wear suits made by you"

Mr Lumiere chuckles "That is because he had good taste!" he lets go of Lila's hands and turns heading to the back of the shop "Come, come we have work to do!"

Nathanael smirks "That your boyfriend?"

Lila glances at him "Why you jealous?" she starts to walk on.

"Oh, you would love that" he mutters while rolling his eyes. He follows her. Pushing past the red curtain. When he walks into the back his eyes swiftly look over the area.

Two mannequins stand in the corner, one clothed in a finely made suit. Before Nathanael has much of a chance to look around the back room of the suit makers, his arm is gripped strongly, and he is pulled to stand on a small raised podium.

"Stand straight!" Mr Lumiere barks.

Nathanael instantly straightens his spine, his chest puffing out a little. In the corner of his eye, he sees Lila biting back a laugh.

Mr Lumiere slowly walks around him, a studious gaze as he places his fingers against his chin. Nathanael gulps feeling like a piece of prey. Finally, Mr Lumiere stops his circling and stands in front of Nathanael. His loud sigh fills the room.

Lila's melodic laugh follows soon after "You can't possibly think he's that bad, can you"

Mr Lumiere glances at her "If your father was still around, he would have got you a better pet"

Nathanael glowers down at the man. He opens his mouth to argue but Lila gives him a pointed look and so he reluctantly shuts it.

"He's not a pet…and with a new suit made by the best suit-maker in New York I'm sure he'll smarten right up," Lila says. She sits down on a high stool near a small desk in the corner of the room. "Come on, Mr Lumiere, if anyone can do it, it's you"

Mr Lumiere pouts pretending to mull it over. Lila grins knowing she had got him wrapped around her finger. Nathanael glances between the two in confusion.

Mr Lumiere nods "Very well but remember" he points at Lila "I only do this because you are like a granddaughter to me"

Lila smirks "You can't be that old, you don't look a day over thirty"

"Stop with the flattery, you think I don't know your game, you're as sly as your Mother" Mr Lumiere scolds.

"Aw, so you won't do the suit half price for your favourite adopted granddaughter?" Lila pouts.

Nathanael rolls his eyes at her theatrics.

"No!" Mr Lumiere says, already walking to the back of the room and opening the top drawer of his cabinet. He took out a roll of measuring tape "Now let's get to work" he quickly heads back to Nathanael and holds the measuring tape out.

Nathanael stares at him unsure what to do. Then jumps as the man snaps at him. "Hold your arms out!"

"R-Right!" he holds both arms out, like a scarecrow. Mr Lumiere places his measure along Nathanael's left arm. He takes a black marker from his top pocket and marks down the measurement on the tape. He does the same with the right arm. Then he quickly measures his waist and legs.

He looks closely at his markings then looks at Nathanael with a frown "You're quite short for a young man"

Nathanael's forehead creases "I can't help that!"

Mr Lumiere shakes his head ignoring Nathanael. He looks to Lila "I will need to make this suit from scratch with his unusual height, it should be done by tomorrow night"

Lila nods standing up "That's fine"

"Is there any particular material or colour you wish to choose from?" Mr Lumiere asks, rushing to the desk and picking up a book which he flips open to display various materials in a range of colours to Lila.

"Um, isn't this suit for me?" Nathanael asks, stepping down from the small podium.

"I'm the one buying it" Lila deadpans not even glancing up as she flips through materials.

Nathanael grumbles "rude" and folds his arms.

"That one" Lila points at a material. Nathanael tries to see what she picked but Mr Lumiere blocks his view taking back the book "Excellent choice, you obviously inherited your father's good taste"

Lila smiles "I inherited a lot of things from my father" then she looks to Nathanael "Oh yes, a tie, you need a good tie" she walks across the room and pushes the red curtain back "Come on!" she urges Nathanael. She heads out, he quickly rushes to catch up.

He follows her to the back wall of the shop where some ties are displayed on a shelf. Nathanael watches as Lila runs a finger along the rows, brows furrowed in concentration.

"Can I not choose the tie at least?" Nathanael says.

"No offence but I don't trust you to choose anything" Lila quips back.

He frowns "Offence taken"

Lila side-eyes him as her usual smirk plays on her lips "Too bad, I don't really care" her finger stops on a teal coloured tie. "Here we go!" she takes it and holds it out to Nathanael "Go on"

"Seriously teal?" his nose wrinkles.

"What's wrong with it?" Lila frowns "It's a good colour, it matches your eyes!"

"Oh, how romantic!" Nathanael teases.

Lila's eyes roll "Oh do shut up and put it on!"

Still chuckling Nathanael reaches out taking the tie from her hand, he places it around his shirt collar. His brows furrow and his tongue stick's out a little as he tries to tie it properly.

"Do you need me to do that too?" Lila asks.

"No!" he turns his back to her, finally getting the tying right. "There, see I Can do it!" he grins proudly, turning back around.

Lila does not match his enthusiasm as she glowers at the tie like it had just insulted her "Let me fix that" Lila tutted.

"No-" Nathanael tries to turn away, but Lila is having none of it. "Stop being awkward!" she tries to come around his side but he turns again. "Just leave it!" he whines. Lila grabs his shoulder trying to push him around. He pushes her off.

Mr Lumiere's cough cuts their fight short. They looked at him with wide eyes. "If you two kids are done playing, I would like to discuss the cost with Miss Rossi"

Lila blushes a little, and composes herself, pushing some of her brown curled hair back over her shoulder. She walks over to Mr Lumiere "Of course"

Nathanael can't help but smirk at seeing the great Lila Rossi embarrassed for once. "Don't forget we're buying the tie" he shouts after, not able to bite back his smirk.

Lila makes no reply as she enters the back room with Mr Lumiere. Nathanael decides to wait out in the main shop browsing the suits that are hanging up or displayed on mannequins. Finally after what felt like hours but could have only been a few minutes at most Lila returns, the red curtain being pushed out her road.

"You ready to go?" she asks Nathanael.

Nathanael nods "Yeah but um" he looks down at the tie still badly tied around his neck "What about the tie"

"You can wear it out" she replies.

"Oh" his cheeks colour "Do you want to fix it"

Lila's eyebrow raises "I thought it was already perfect"

"It's alright but I just thought-" he blushes "Fine if you don't want to-" he folds his arms glancing away.

"Stop being an idiot" Lila chuckles. Her heels tap on the wooden floor as she approaches. Nathanael looks up as Lila unties the mess he had tied it in. This close he can see the little lines appear on her forehead as she concentrates, lips pouting and nose screwing up a little. She ties it the right way much quicker than he could of. Then their eyes lock as she looks back up, Nathanael feels his cheeks heat up, but he has no idea why.

Lila smooths down his shirt "There we go, you're almost perfect now" she smiles. Nathanael gulps trying to find his voice "R-Right, thanks" he ducks his head.

Lila steps away "We better go now before we end up being late"

"Late?" Nathanael repeats.

"You know for your meeting" Lila hints.

Nathanael frowns not understanding then it dawns on him and his face lights up in realization "Oh right, yes, the meeting" he heads for the door opening it and making the bell jingle. Lila goes to follow him.

"Lila" Mr Lumiere grabs her wrist before she leaves. She looks over her shoulder in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" she asks.

Mr Lumiere frowns as he glances after Nathanael who had left the shop. "Be careful okay, I don't want to see you getting hurt by a boy like him"

Lila's eyebrows raised "Um, I can see you mean well, but I can assure you Nathanael should be more scared of getting hurt by me than I should of him" she smiles "Goodbye, for now, Mr Lumiere"

He nods, letting go of her wrist and watching her walk off the shop bell jingling as the door closed. "That girl…she thinks she's untouchable, but she has no idea how much her father protected her from the world" he shakes his head and returns to the back of his shop.

She gets into the car beside Nathanael. "What kept you?" he asks.

"Oh, Mr Lumiere just needed a question answered but everything is sorted" she smiles then nods at the driver to go.

The car pulls out and they head onwards on their journey. Nathanael glances out the window at the passing blur of New York. "Lila are you sure about this?"

"Oh, I'm never sure about anything but what are you talking about exactly?" she tilts her head.

He removes his gaze from the window, focusing on her "Meeting up with Tony's goons, I mean what if it gets dangerous? it's only us two, I'll feel guilty if you get hurt because of me"

Lila smiles "That's sweet but you needn't worry I can handle myself, and we won't be alone, I've got a good team too, remember" she winks just as the car stops by a sidewalk. The front door to the passenger seat opens and woman with a bob haircut and a smooth fitting suit gets in slamming the door behind her.

"Kagami, I trust you delivered the message" Lila smiles.

"The message was very clear" Kagami replies.

"Luka and Alix?" Lila asks.

"They was a change around, Kim and Max are in position now while Luka and Alix have gone to do a check up on another problem"

"Okay, as long as there are two on standby" Lila looks to Nathanael "Now you ready?"

Nathanael shakily nods "I think so"

"Good, you'll go out first get them talking then if we run into problems, which we will do, I'll come out!" Lila grins.

Nathanael frowns at how excited she is about what is going to happen. Before Nathanael knows it, they are pulling into the empty area where the meeting was planned.

A busted old car already sits waiting. Two men step out as the Rossi vehicle pulls up. Nathanael recognises them as the ones who always showed up at his doorstep.

"It's show time" Lila smirks.