Collapsing heavily in bed, Mia groaned. What an agitating night. While it was nice to know all the men in her life cared so much about her, she had to admit that appreciation had been strongly tried tonight.

God, I know they're just being overprotective and all, but was it really necessary for them ALL to gang up against me? And come on, it's Danny! He's one of the few legitimately nice guys I know, and reputation or not, I doubt he'd ever try to take advantage of me. She sighed again. Besides, it's not like I can't take care of myself. I'm not a moron for Christ's sake.

Still annoyed from the whole debacle at dinner, Mia had grudgingly agreed to talk with her father about the entire matter.

Mia sprawled comfortably on the leather couch in her father's office, while he sat down in the large armchair behind his desk.

"Mia, I know you think I'm being unfair but try and understand where I'm coming from," he began.

"Daddy, I understand. I don't like it, but I understand. I just feel like you hold me to a different standard than you do the boys, which I really don't like," she insisted.

"I know I do," he admitted, "but you're my baby girl and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I can take care of myself."

"Yes. You can. And you've proven that, but I couldn't stand it if you got hurt when I could have prevented it."

"Danny's not going to hurt me, I know he won't. And it's not like we're even dating, anyway."

"That's why I'm so hesitant to let you go out with him. He's significantly older than you, not to mention...I don't want you two dating," he left the rest unsaid.

Mia sighed. She had expected this, well, actually she had expected a far more severe reaction and was ready with an offer she knew he couldn't refuse. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay. I'll tell him I want us to be friends first, and we'll just hang out. No dating. And if he can't deal with that then clearly he wouldn't have been a good boyfriend. But," she paused, "but, if at the end of the summer we both want to be more than friends, will you give me your blessing?"

Michael stopped, stunned by her maturity, and said, "Yes. If, at the end of the summer, I've seen him treating you appropriately and you're both still interested," he drew in a deep breath, "then you may date him. But, understand this, I will always be uncomfortable with the idea of you dating him."

She smiled, "I know daddy. And I understand."

"Good. Now about what I saw in the library."

"Nothing happened," she interrupted.

"I found you sleeping on him. Please tell me that is not a common occurrence in your life."

"He's my friend. And I didn't mean to."

"In any case, that's not the issue at hand. You're growing up into a lovely, young lady and in this world you must be careful of how you behave."

Mia blushed, "But I've never-"

"And I'm glad to hear it," he interrupted gently. "But, I don't want anyone talking about you in anything but positive manner. Alright?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now, there's one last matter. I realize that you would like to be more involved in the business, but I'm afraid I must insist that you discontinue your attempts to persuade me otherwise," he held up a hand to halt her protests, "I don't want you drawn into any of this," he waved loosely at his office.

For a moment, she simply stared at him before saying calmly, "I'll respect your wishes. However, I want to say one last thing."

He nodded his agreement.

"I was born into 'this' and nothing you say or do will change that. 'This' is who we are. But I will stay out of it, until you tell me otherwise."

"Thank you."

Mia stood up to leave, and he said faintly, "You're more than this."

"I am my family," she echoed and carefully shut the door behind her.

Michael stared at the closed door.