Mafia 2 and all of it's characters belong to 2k.
Lucia and any other OC I may throw in, belong to me.
10th Feb 2014 - Fixed any typos that were here and possibly changed some of the story.
15th July 2014 - Fixed more typos. (Because I always seem to have typos)
This story has a mix of first person and third person, plus different POV's.
Dear Diary,
Today is 20th June 1950,
In the few last years, I have been cluelessy searching for my missing father; He has been missing since 1945. I have searched up and down Empire bay many times, It was like I was a lost soul trying to find their way home. When the clues were right infront of me this whole time; his room. The only reasons I would never go in there before, was out of respect and the fact it never clicked. Plus no one should ever rummage through their parents or family belongings, but this was an emergency, It was needed!
..I just cannot believe I didn't think of this sooner..
I am writing this entry, as day one of my new search. Maybe the books; the items my father has kept throughout the years, will give me some link or clue to what might have happened to him and I really hope they do.
This is all I wish to write now, I'll keep you updated diary.
Love, Lucia.
P.S. There are five days until my 25th birthday. Not really looking forward to that, since it will be another year without my father to celebrate with me...Can't wait.
Getting up from the worn-out wooden chair, Lucia threw the diary onto her messily made bed, giving it one last glance before she walked out of her room. Approaching the door that once roomed her father, she took a big gulp and began eyeing it up and down. "I don't know if I should.." She mumbled to herself as her left hand softly touched the handle. Biting her lip, she quickly opened the door, but fled back, thinking she would wake her father up. "What am I doing.. He isn't in there and hasn't been for 5 years now." She spoke, letting out a sad sigh as her words trailed off.
Drifting passed the door, she switched the light on. The room lit up, showing signs that no one has been in the room for a long time. Thick layers of dust practically covered every surface and item; The walls and ceiling heavily covered in cobwebs. Her eyes widened in shock at the room, but she didn't have time to clean it now. Lucia scouted the room and she stumbled upon his desk; it was covered in papers, pens and other items she could recognise. Shifting her body over to it, She pulled out the chair and sat on the edge. Her eyes quickly examined the desk for spiders, but found none, so she immidieatly began gathering up the paper and piling them onto the floor, while organising the rest of the mess. As she finished with the desk, she began to look through the pile of paper that stacked up to her knees.
Reading through them carefully, the first lot of letters were of her father's earnings and his work times, nothing that would help her. As she continued scimming through the papers, she was getting frustrated at the fact, they all seemed the same. Until she hit the middle of the pile, letters with big hand-written words on them began appearing. "Final warning?" She read slightly confused, as those words caught her eyes. She stopped her search and began reading one of the warning letters. As she read it, her expession went into shock and the letter slipped out from her grasp. "My father owned money to the Mafia?" She stuttered, placing her head into her small hands. She sat there for a good 30 minutes, shaking and her mind wondering why in the world, her father would do something like that. Everyone knew getting involve with the mafia was risky, but what got to her more was why he did it.
Slamming her hands to the desk, she had an idea. Lucia knew an item that would hold any information about her fathers life, His books. Her father was big on writing; in his spare time he would write books, which she enjoyed reading a lot as a child. But because she was a child, she hardly understood what most of the words meant, so any book she read seemed to be playful and fun.
Getting out of the chair, she shuffled to the wooden bookshelf, which was next to the desk. Kneeling down, as the bookshelf was pretty small in height, she began scanning the rows. One book caught her eyes, it read /My life of misfortune/. She remembered reading this book when she was 10. To her at the time, the book was about a man who couldn't make enough money to afford a nice house for him and his daughter or provide his daughter with beautiful clothes and toys like the other kids in his city. She remembered a part in the book where the man asked a friend for a loan, to help the man afford a nice place for the family; so he could give his child a better life. The friend agreed on giving him money, but in returned asked for the father to repay him back, in any way he could.
Remembering that, Lucia quickly opened the book, trying to find that part. Flicking through the pages, as her eyes scanned the lines, She found it and began reading it out loud. "As I knocked on my dear friends door, I waited casually for him to answer. Opening the door, was his beauitful maid; Her name, I do not remember, But she remembered me. Inviting me in, she offered to take my coat, I smile at her and gave her the coat. As she told me where my friend was, I began walking down the hall; His house was one of the biggest in E.B." Lucia stopped reading for a moment and questioned what she had read. "E.B?" Thinking about those initials, it finally popped into her head. "EMPIRE BAY!" she shouted, realising this story must have been written about a true event, she began to read on.
"As I gazed at his walls while following the maid, I found myself in his living room; A huge fireplace was located at the back, He had plenty of bookshelves to make a library and owned extremely expensive looking couches and paintings. This was the sort of house I, well any person would want. My friend, who I call E.S, was a very rich man and one of my closest friends. As he approached me, He gave me a nod, which indicated to sit down. As I sat on the couch, E.S joined me, asking me what it was I needed or wanted. As I told him, I felt extremely nervous, because I knew exactly who he was and who he worked for; He was part of a mafia family. He eyed me up and down and soon gave me a smile; the sort of smile that friends use to comfort someone. He got up and asked me to stay sitting down as he went to get something. I say he was gone for about 10 minutes, as he came back he was carrying a light brown briefcase. E.S told me, inside was everything I needed, I promised him I would repay him back every penny, He trusted me and handed over the briefcase. He didn't need to tell me what would happen if I didn't keep up with repayments on this loan. I've known this guy for nearly all my life and yes, even though we are close friends, I still have to repay back the money. Since it's quite a lot and well, I owe him for helping me and my daughter out. Plus I have heard many stories from him and his escapades and let me tell you, they are not pretty. After the small exchange, he led me to the front door, as we said our goodbyes, I finally felt as if my life was going to get better."
Placing the book down, Lucia sat there looking at the ceiling "I knew it.. This book was about my father, but who is E.S? I don't remember any names of the friends dad used to bring over for drinks.." She mumbled, trying to think about the men who would come over at night, for beer and to talk. "Wait, So father borrowed money to pay for this place? The apartment I'm in right now? was bought from Mafia money?!" She shouted. Her stomach dropped at the thought that she had been living in a place that was technically owned by a Mafia family.
Lucia didn't like the Mafia at all, She had high respect for the law and refused to get involved in anything to do with the Mafia. But than she realised, getting upset over that fact was not going to help in finding out what exactly has happened to her dad. "If E.S is a close friend of my father, I'm sure he would have gone easy on him. Maybe this E.S knows where he is!" She quickly said, smiling at the thought. "But.. Who exactly is E.S? WHO?" She shouted, racking her brain at the thought.
But soon her thoughts were interrupted as knocking was heard at her frontdoor, very loud knocking to be precise. "Ey, . Yous in there? we've come for the rest of the money!" A deep but husky voice shouted, as the knocked got louder. "wha?" Lucia quietly said dumbfolded, but quickly came back to thought, as it was her father they wanted. She had no idea what to do at this stage, she was way too afraid to open the door; For all she knew, there could be a a bunch of tough guys ready to throw punches as soon as the door opened. As she began searching for a place to hide, the sounds of kicking were heard, "If ya don't answer in ten seconds, we are coming in! ya hear me?" The husky voice shouted once again. "Coming in? Oh shit." Lucia spoke with a scared tone, she dashed to her fathers closet and got inside, throwing all the clothes on top of her and used her left hand to close the doors quietly.
"3..2..1!" The voice shouted, as the sound of thefront door slamming against the wall was heard. "Henry, you search that bedroom there, I'll go for that one." The man spoke, giving his partner a grin. "Shit..As long as they think I'm a pile of messy clothes.. it should be fine!" Lucia thought, keeping her eyes closed, fearing she would get caught. She could hear one of the men in her fathers room, throwing his stuff about. This caused another drop in her stomach, she hated it when other people touched his stuff, she really wanted to jump out of the closet and attack, but she stopped when she realised; this would be a huge mistake.
Suddenly the closet opened, her body froze, "Hmm, nobody seems to be in here. Sheese, this room looks like it hasn't been cleaned for 10 years." The man complained in a neutral tone, he voice was less husky than the first voice, but it was more deeper. As the closet doors closed, Lucia felt relieved, let out a sigh and thought the man had gone out of the room. As she began to remove the clothes off her head, The closet door swang open again. "Well.. Hello there sweetie" The man with the deeper voice said. Lucia froze as her eyes locked on to him, "Oh shit..." She mumbled. Before Lucia even had the chance to do anything, The man was now aiming at gun at her face. He grabbed her by the left arm, Pulling her roughly out of the closet and into an arm lock, the man swiftly moved the gun to the side of her head and started kicking her feet; forcing her to walk out of the bedroom. "Look what I found, hiding in the closet." The man said, causing the other man to look out of Lucia's bedroom door. The other man; who was fatter, but still quite handsome, eyed Lucia up and down and began moving closer to her.
"So.. where's Thomas?" He asked grabbing her chin roughly, causing her to lock eyes with him. As she looked into his eyes, she felt her stomach drop again. "Do I know you?" She asked, ignoring his question. The man said nothing in reply, but asked her again, "Where is Thomas?" He said, but now in a stern voice. "I don't know! I haven't seen my father since I was 20!" She replied with angst. "Oh, So you're his daughter?" The guy said as he let go of her chin with a smirk forming on his face. "Well.. we can't go back to Eddie empty handed.. so we might as well take you with us." He continued, getting rope from his jacket pocket. "Wait what, No! I can't go with you, I have things to do!" Lucia screamed, trying to struggle from the thinner man who was holding her. "Keep still!" The thinner man demanded and used his right knee and shoved it into the back of Lucia's own knee; Causing her to lose balance. "Damn broads.." The man said as he grabbed her hair to pull Lucia back up; The man infront began binding her hands together.
As he finished binding her hands, the bigger guy gave a hand motion to his partner and began walking towards the front door. The man holding Lucia kept one hand pulling on her hair; causing a whimper to pass her lips. He ignored her whimpering and used his free hand grip onto her right arm and force her to walk with him out of her apartment.
Joe's P.O.V
As we walked to the car, I couldn't help but think about the girl we found. I've seen her before, I know I have, But I have no idea where. I mean I've hung around with a lot of women and too me, a women is a women. But this one, she has something different to her.. Either way, I'm sure she was lying when she said she hadn't seen her father since the age of 20. Because believe me, She sure didn't look like she would be in her 20's, she looks more like an 18 year old.
Getting to my car, I told Henry to get in the backseat with her because she might try and escape; Can't be too trusting with people these days. Getting into the drivers seat, I start the car up and begin driving over to Eddie's bar. As I drive down the street, I couldn't stop looking at her face through my mirror, It's bugging me to know who she is, but I should leave the talking to Eddie.
We finally get to our destination, Eddie's bar and I pull up right outside the entrance. Getting out, I noticed Henry pulling out the girl and dragged her inside the building by her arm. Honestly, maybe he was being too rough on her. But then again she is our victim or I'm just getting soft on attractive broads. Following Henry inside, I walk over to the bar "Where's Eddie?" I asked the bartender.
Third Person.
"Ah Joe, Henry. He's upstairs, Go on up." He replied, Pointing to the stairs that lead to Eddie. "Thanks" Joe said, as he walked away from the bar. "Let's go" Henry hissed to Lucia, as he dragged her up the stairs. "Oh my god, would you stop pulling me so roughly, I'm coming!" She finally spoke, with more angst in her voice. "With that attitude, I don't think so, Broads like you need to learn your place." Henry said in a cold tone, Lucia said nothing in response. Knocking on Eddie's door, He shouted for them to come in. "Eddie, we couldn't find Thomas. But, before you say anything, we did find someone who might help." Joe explained as he sat in the chair, that was infront of Eddie's desk. "Oh?" Eddie spoke, with an intrigued look at who this person could be. "Get in here." Henry commanded as he pushed Lucia through the door; but lost her footing from the hard push, causing her to fall by Eddie's desk. "Woah Henry, Be careful, I don't want my flooring getting any blood on it." Eddie spoke, concerned about his floor more than Lucia. "She's fine." Henry replied, as he casually lent against the wall.
Eddie stood up from his desk, keeping his eyes on the new person. As Lucia got up, she flipped the hair out of her face, getting ready to raise her voice at them, but as soon as her eyes caught Eddie's she couldn't say anything for a moment. "Uncle..Eddie?" She muttered, giving him a confused look. "Lucia? What the fuck." He replied, suprised to see her. "You know this broad, Eddie?" Joe said, as he began lighting a smoke. "Yes, She is Thomas's daughter. Though I haven't seen her since she was a young teenager.." He replied moving closer to Lucia, but that caused her to move backwards. "There's nothing to be frightened of.." He comforted. "REALLY? You want me to believe that now? I got tied up by that idiot, my feet, ankles and back of my knees hurt because of that dick over there! And you.. YOU expect ME, to be NOT SCARED? Wow." She screamed, giving off an angry vibe.
Before either Joe or Henry could reply to those names, Eddie grabbed her arm and pulled her close to his face. "I can see you have your fathers bad attitude. But I wouldn't use that sort of language with us. We could kill you right here, right now." He whispered the last part in her ear, causing a shiver to go down her spine, but that didn't stop her from being mouthy. "Kill me? GO AHEAD! You probably killed my father, it's the only way you cowards can get rid of someone who has the balls to stand up to you." She replied with a venomous tongue. "We should just get rid of her now" Joe shouted, standing up as he aimed a pistol at Lucia. "Now now Joe.. I like a girl who has spirit like this." Eddie replied, giving Lucia a grin. With that, he dragged her to an empty chair and forced her to sit in it. kneeling down to her height, Eddie put a hand on her thigh, slowly caressing it, this caused Lucia to flinch. "Listen Lucia, I never killed your father, nor did these two or any of my men. In fact, from my information your father is still alive. With you here, maybe it will lure him to us, but then maybe not. Either way, I'm happy with this result." Eddie slowly said, as he continued to caress her thigh. "But.. If he is still alive, Where is he? I know my father wouldn't just flee. you must have done something." She replied with slight stutters.
"Hmm, well If I was him, I would have fled too. But unlike him, I would have taken you with me. Don't you find that odd Lucia? Your own Father, fleeing without his daughter?" He spoke, questioning her with smirk as he locked eyes with Lucia. "I don't know..." Lucia mumbled, sounding like she was about to cry. Her eyes became distant at the thought of her father leaving her here. "It's ok, You'll be looked after here.." Joe said, breaking the small silence. "What?" Lucia choked, snapping back to reality. "Well, your father owes me money from a loan he borrowed years ago, And a lot of it." Eddie sternly spoke, as he got up. "Wait?! money, loan. you.. You're E.S! You're in the book my father wrote. you're the guy my father got a loan from to pay for our apartment, correct?" Lucia rushed, giving him a confused look. "Correct you are, but he broke his promise. Which was too pay it all back, He has paid back NOTHING. The first year or so, I didn't mind the excuses. But as the years flew, your father came up with more excuses. I got bored, I wanted my money. Everytime I sent one of my guys to his work, He was never there. Then in 1943, your father shot and killed one of my best guys, which is another reason why I want him." Eddie explained, clutching a glass of whisky.
"W-what do I have to do with any of this?" Lucia asked, trying to untie her hands. "well, If I can't get my money back from your father, then the next family member will have to do, which is you." He replied, turning to her. "Me? And how am I suppose to do that, I mea-" Before Lucia could continue, Eddie was once again in her face. "You will work for me." He said, givng her a grin. "Woah wait. A girl, in this kind of work. She probably can't even use a gun!" Henry interjected. "Now Henry, I know it may sound like a stupid idea to you, but I have to do anything to get my money back, as well as protect our family. This seems like the only way to get it, besides who said she had to use a gun. She's a female, there are other ways she could get my money back." Eddie gave Henry a wink, Lucia knew exactly what he meant. "HELL NO. I am not doing what you are thinking. I may be a female, but my god I do not whore myself out, TO NO ONE; Not even the bloody Mafia." Lucia shouted, as she stood up. "Really? well can you use a gun?" Joe asked, keeping his pistol aimed at her head. "As a matter of fact, I can. I learnt how to use one as a teenager." She proudly said, a cocky smirk slapped on her face. This remark left Henry and Joe speechless, it was rare to know a female who knew how to use a gun, let alone handle one.
Joe's P.O.V
As soon as Lucia announced she knew how to handle a gun, it all came back to me. Her name was Lucia, that is the same name as one of the girls who use to hang with me and Vito back in our teenage days. She has the same eye colour and hair colour as her, how did I not figure this sooner? Without a word, I felt myself moving closer to her. "Umm.. why are you coming near me?" She said to me, giving off a scared look. "Lucia.. it's me. Joe.. Joe Barbaro. We used to be in a gang together with Vito?" I said. Her face suddenly changed from scared to happy in a second, but it also looked like she was about too cry. "Joe? Is that really you? I knew I had seen you somewhere before, but my mind was cloudy..." Was all she could say, before she slumped back into the chair. "Joe, you know her?" Henry asked, Eddie just standing there, sipping his whisky, looking interested in this sudden chain of events. "Yeah! She used to hang around with me and Vito, until Vito got sent to the army. Since then, me, nor Vito have spoken to her." I explained, giving Henry and Eddie a little bit of his past.
Third person
"Well.. I guess if you know her, She's alright.. for a broad. but if she gets mouthy, Don't be surprised if I kick her some more." Henry said with an uneasy tone. "Dick." Lucia quickly replied, wishing she would give Henry the middle finger. "Well, we can leave the reunion until some other time, Now it's just a matter of settling on what you can do to get my money back." Eddie piped in, as he moved closer to Lucia again. Lucia said nothing in reply just kept her eyes locked on him. Even though she knew two people who worked with a mafia family, she still didn't want to work with them. But then, She didn't want to die either, or be forced to do something else. All she wanted was to know the truth about her father. Had he really shot one of Eddie's men? Is he really on the run to avoid paying him back. Was it all a plot to get Lucia to pay for him? In the end, Lucia knew the only way she would find out is if she cooperated with Eddie; who in her eyes now, could no longer be called Uncle Edddie, That was a name she gave him as a child, Now he was just Eddie. Though she did feel a bit happier to know that both him, and Joe were still around, but where was Vito?