"Sis. You must get up now." Lucrezia awoke to a hand shaking her. It wasn't yet dawn but Cesare was up and had their bags in hand. "Did you even sleep?" She asked rubbing her eyes. No answer came just an almost inaudible sigh indicative of gentle impatience. Lucrezia stretched out her hand to him. Effortlessly he pulled her up from the bed and close to his chest. Placing a kiss on the top of her head he wrapped his jacket around her, hoping it would provide some shelter from the frigid temperatures outside. Being more awake and better able to grasp his sense of urgency, Lucrezia slipped on her shoes and opened the door of the hotel room. After another creaky ride on the elevator they paid their bill and made their way outside. Bitter wind bit at any exposed skin. Lucrezia nuzzled against Cesare but felt a pang of guilt at the realization of how thin his t-shirt was. If he felt the cold he did not show it. Guiding the way he led to the bus stop where they would wait. Six others were already scattered around. One woman tightly bundled scolded her son for picking something up from the ground. "This is all your fault! You promised we wouldn't be doing this again!" A girl not much older than Lucrezia shouted at a man who appeared to be her boyfriend. He kept trying to quiet her but it just seemed to infuriate her further.
Cesare sighed. He had saved his sister from one house of screaming and fighting only to thrust her into a filthy world full of it. It unnerved him how the two men who stood closest to them looked at his sister. "I swear it won't always be like this sis. I am going to get a job and do whatever it takes to make sure this is not the type of world you will live in." Lucrezia looked up at him with a devilish grin. Taken aback and confused by her reaction he questioned, "Do you doubt that I will get us out of this?" He cupped her hands in his and blew on them in an effort to warm them. "I do not doubt there is nothing you will do to have what you want brother. I do not doubt that you will always take care of me. But in order for us to have the kind of life we both wish, you getting a job is not going to work. " Her rosy lips placed a kiss on his fingertips. "We will have to use our combined talents to do a different kind of work. One that I believe we are both uniquely capable of. It is a good thing you were able to take a life so easily, you may yet need to do it again" Cesare could not help but to shake his head in awe.
Images of the two of them as bonnie and clyde style criminals flashed in his head. For so long he had wanted to believe he was the dark one. The cursed. The stained. That she was purity and innocence made manifest. From her reaction to his murder of their step-father and her casualness at the idea of doing it again, he could see he underestimated her. Instead of diminishing his esteem for her it increased it. Though it had only been hours it seemed as if they had been on the bus for days. Passing through several small cities, until Lucrezia could bear the hunger no more. "We must stop for food. I need to eat something, anything." Cesare reluctantly agreed that they would get off at the next stop. He knew in his heart he could deny her nothing. The word "no" was not in his vocabulary when it came to his sister. At the next stop they found themselves off the bus and wandering for a place to eat. After fifteen minutes of walking through the snow covered street, passing boarded up building after boarded up building, Lucrezia's eyes spotted a diner. "There Cesare, let's just eat there." If it had not been for the neon sign indicating otherwise, the diner too would have looked closed.
"Hello welcome, my name is Candice. What can I get you?" A waitress far too perky for the dreariness of the surroundings asked once they were seated. The waitress had presumably included them both in her inquisition, but her eyes never left Cesare. "He will have scrambled eggs and bacon with coffee. I will have the same but with hot tea." Lucrezia's tone was sharp and her eyes were like daggers. She wasn't sure what about the waitress bothered her more, her obvious attraction to Cesare or the resemblance. Between her flaxen hair and cream colored skin, their appearance was similar. Before they even had time to discuss what to do next, Candice had flounced back with their drinks. Placing a cup of coffee and an iced tea down on the table she was met with sigh of disgust. "I asked for hot tea. Take this back and bring me what I asked for." Cesare was taken aback by his sister's abrupt tone. Usually she was so kind to and well-mannered even when speaking to those she did not care for. After apologizing profusely, Candice hurried to right the wrong order. "Do you have a problem with our waitress sis?" Cesare inquired in a teasing tone. Lucrezia raised her eyes to meet his, she did not match his playful grin. "Do you find her beautiful? She looks quite a lot like me." Cesare slammed down his coffee cup. "You can't be serious? She is dull and flat. She is like tap water and you a fine wine. There is no comparison between you and some meaningless waitress." Lucrezia smiled for standing behind Cesare was Candice, the waitress. She was coming back to bring the hot tea. Lucrezia noticed that she had put lipstick on and must have fluffed her hair. Candice's face so cheery now crumpled. All the giddiness that had filled her at the sight of Cesare coming through the door had left her. It provided great delight for Lucrezia.
Cesare had always been very handsome. Over the years he had left quite a string of broken hearts amongst his female classmates. Even then, they always bore at least a passing resemblance to Lucrezia, a fact that did not go unnoticed by her. When she was a freshman and Cesare a senior she had witnessed a fight between three girls all claiming he was their boyfriend. It never used to bother her, she knew whom his heart truly belonged to. She knew he cared for no woman, their mother included, even a shred as much as he cared for her. All of the girls had just been ways for him to pass the time. As she had grown older however, her possessiveness had grown stronger. Which was why she was currently fantasizing about splashing her freshly delivered, boiling tea on the waitress' pretty face. "Are you finished? We really must be going." His words stirred his sister out of her thoughts. He knew they needed a plan, but they would have to develop it on the road. After paying their bill and waiting fifteen icy minutes for the bus to arrive, they were once again on their way. Cesare was lost in his head trying to formulate what they should do next. Lucrezia was doing the same when the man sitting across the isle from her caught her eye. On his wrist was a gold watch, she wasn't sure of the make but it looked expensive. His suit had to be silk, it was a slate grey with thin lavender pinstripes. His tie was loose and their was a small smudge of red lipstick on his neck. Eyes were bloodshot and he was constantly trying to smooth his hair with his hand. She was startled when Beethoven's 5th began to blare from his breast pocket. "Hi honey. No. No. I'm at the office, I can't talk. Yes still. I had to spend the night here. Because of this project. Yes, I will be home tonight. Sure. See you tonight. I love you too." The man fumbled in his briefcase until he pulled a gold ring out of the inner pocket and slipped it on. All of Lucrezia's suspicions about the man were confirmed. Taking it all in, it sparked an idea.
"Cesare. Do you see that man there?" She casually gestured in the man's direction. "Yes, what about him?" He asked as he began to analyze the man himself. "I think he has recently been sleeping with someone he isn't married to. He must have money too. Look at his watch and suit. How much do you think a man like that would pay if we were to threaten to tell his wife?" Cesare shook his head. "Who knows? A few thousand? Not enough for us to live on forever if that's what you're thinking." Admittedly that was her initial thought but she had begun to think on a much larger scale. "No. We will not make our fortunes threatening unfaithful husbands. But think, brother, of all the other secrets people hide. Ones much bigger and much more valuable." Cesare smiled. "So that's our plan then is it? To steal secrets and use them as weapons, forcing people to pay us in exchange for our silence." Cesare leaned back, resting his head against the window. "You are not seeing the bigger picture. The two of us could take their secrets, their money, and anything of worth. We are Borgias. Together we will make our name mean something. We find out the darkest secrets and use them to spin a web the most cunning person in all the world wouldn't have the slightest idea how to escape. We find the rich and the powerful, the ones with most to lose. We find the rope of lies they have created and we hang them with it."