A/N: I have edited this as well as the first chapter and have begun a re-write of what I had. Expect to see more of this now, and as always let me know what you think!


Howl of the Lioness.
"Other things may change us,
but we start and end with family."
Anthony Brandt

...

Prologue


Los Angeles, CA
April 19
th, 2007

"Today marks a victory for the F.B.I., as they were able to apprehend Sam "Junior" Cacuzza early this morning. Agents moved in to make the arrest at the home of Jimmy Cacuzza, the father of the detainee. The charges for Cacuzza's arrest have not yet been released…"

Audrey hit mute and tossed the remote to the nearest couch unable to believe that this bullshit had already been spread across every news station in America when she had only just arrived home ten minutes ago. To this day, after countless other headlines involving her family name, it still astounded her how fast the news got out.

What further frustrated her was that the Cacuzza name had been out of the news for over a year. She had finally stopped receiving questionable stares from the bank patrons while she worked, had finally stopped hearing the whispers as she shopped for her groceries. She knew that eventually it would come, that some allegations would tarnish her good fortuned streak, but an arrest? That was much worse.

Several hours ago she had been gathering her things and getting ready to leave her parents' house for the evening. Her cheeks had been sore from laughing, her eyelids beginning to droop as the exhaustion started to set in. An eventful family dinner as always. Though just as she had been reaching for the door someone had banged loudly on it from the other side several times. The action had startled her and she froze. Her eldest brother, Anthony, brushed passed her and pulled the door open to those impatiently waiting.

Audrey was barely able to register everything that had happened next, though the newly arrived flashing lights of the cop cars had become the most evident. Half a dozen men rushed through the doorway and made their way through the house, hollering for Junior to make himself present. She stood still in her spot, her heart beating erratically in her chest. Tears sprang to her eyes as Junior was being pushed passed her, his hands bound behind him with his arms firmly gripped by two federal agents. At last energy surged through her and she hurriedly followed the men out onto the front lawn. She watched as they stuffed her brother inside one of the many vehicles that was lining the street in front of her parents' house. Her attention was pulled away from the scene as another man stood before her, asking her if she could follow him to be asked a few routine questions. She nodded silently, and was only able to give him a few short answers.

As the street cleared of all the unwanted visitors Audrey remained still, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her grandmother, Isabel Cacuzza, or more affectionately known as Nonna, had made her way over and wrapped her arms around the young woman's shoulders. Audrey's body shook as she was being held, unable to keep her composure any longer. Slowly the two of them made their way back inside the house, rejoining those who remained from the festivities of earlier in the evening.

Audrey could see that her father was livid as he stormed away listening to the information being given to him on the other end of the phone that was pressed firmly against his ear. Her other two brothers followed him out of the room, a meeting was sure to be taking place within the next half an hour.

Isabel led her granddaughter to the couch and sat her down before she rushed off to the kitchen to pour her a glass of water. Audrey looked to her mother who was hysterically recounting the events to someone on the phone, probably one of her close friends, a wife of a man who worked alongside her brothers and father.

For hours she sat on the couch in living room with her mother, Natalie, and her Nonna recounting the events to those who would call as news travelled amongst all the families they were connected to. She could no longer cry, and her voice became vacant of any emotion as she told her story to the "friends" this life had supplied her with.

Soon people started showing up, offering care and support to the three women as the men gathered to discuss what would happen next. From time to time they could hear them yelling, working out how this could have happened.

Audrey watched as the group of women migrated to the kitchen and started to cook. What they were cooking for, Audrey didn't know. As far as she was concerned she couldn't even stomach the idea of food. With a deep breath she quickly grabbed her things, leaving while they were distracted.

She contemplated pouring herself a glass of wine. Though she could use it, it was far too early in the morning for anything like that. But her eyes fell to the television's screen once more. Fuck it; no one was here to judge her.

Then as she leaned against her kitchen counter, her wine glass firmly in hand, her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Why did I just get a phone call from Joseph saying that Junior was arrested?"

"Because that's what happened, Mona."

"Mind your tone," the elder woman on the other end of the line snapped. "That's not what I was asking. Why did Joseph call me, and not you? Did you not think that I would want to know that my grandson just got carted off to prison?"

Audrey remained silent. She knew she should have called Ramona; right after everything happened she should have picked up her phone and dialled her number. It wasn't as if anyone in the family hadn't been arrested before. They had all been through this process in some way or another, really there was no real reason why she shouldn't have been able to pick up the phone to call her, they all had a routine they followed — a plan of action so to speak.

Ramona and Audrey shared a very strong bond, ever since Audrey was three years old and waddling around in pink and white frilly dresses with matching shoes. She had taken an immediate liking to her mother's mother, always wanting to recount to the older woman what happened during her day, and always wanting to hear stories from her younger and more adventurous years. Then when Mona had made the decision to move away, to a smaller town that held no distinct connection to the family once her husband had passed, Audrey was the one to help and make sure she settled in okay. She was the one who called and checked in on her and whenever something like this morning's events occurred everyone knew that Audrey would be the one to call and inform her, that it was only right she did.

"Audrey, are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, I really am. I know that I should have called, I just…" She let the sentence hang in the air, unable to find the words to explain everything she was feeling. "Wait, why did Joseph call you?"

"He asked if I had heard from you." Her grandmother tutted. "For some strange reason they were worried about you when you just up and disappeared from them after everything that happened last night." Audrey winced internally at her grandmother's tone, knowing she wasn't happy with her actions and she didn't blame her. She knew they were disrespectful before she even carried through, however her mind was torn on what was right for her and what was best for the family, and for once she decided to be selfish.

"Don't worry 'bout them though, I dealt with it." Ramona said, interrupting her train of thought. "But you better tell me what's going on with you."

"I think— No, I know that I'm tired of all of this." Audrey poured more wine into her glass and took a sip. "It just got to me, watching it all happen after such a quiet year. I mean for a while things finally started to feel normal, and now it's happening all over again. My face actually ended up in this morning's paper, I'm standing on the front lawn like an idiot while he's getting dragged away."

"Audrey, cara, everything is going to be fine, you have so many people that are here for you." The tone of her voice changed, becoming that soothing and comforting sound she craved in times like these. "You know that."

"I don't know if that's enough anymore. How much longer am I going to have to deal with people looking at me and thinking 'she's his daughter, she's a Cacuzza', calling me names, wishing ill on me and my family."

"Then what is it you want? You know I'll do what I can to help you."

"You have still have that guest room in your house, right?"