Lovino takes a long drag from his cigar, feet propped up on his desk, frowning angrily towards Ludwig and Emma standing in front of him. Les Brown's I've got my love to keep me warm plays softly in the background.
"What the fuck did I tell you last week, goddamnit?! No knife! The messier it is, the easier it is for the police to track us!" he says, waving his cigar around heatedly in Ludwig's direction.
"I prefer knives," he answers curtly. "And we got the job done. Your client should be giving us the payment by tomorrow." Emma grabs his arm affectionately and pouts teasingly up at him.
"He never does listen," giving a dramatic sigh, she leans her head on his shoulder affectionately.
Lovino growls, still irate. "Get that romantic shit out of here, we don't have time for this. Listen, I don't give a fuck what you prefer; you know what happened to my grandfather's cousin famiglia two years back? He-"
"- left a job unfinished and muddy, and his crummy job got his whole family in jail," primly finishes Emma. "We know, Lovino. You never cease to remind us."
The Italian scoffs, taking another drag from his cigar before replying. "I'm your fucking boss, you idiots, and I'm in charge of you both. If any of you fuck up, it's on me and it fucks up our whole establishment. Or worse, you might end up dead." He drops his feet from his desk before swiveling in his chair, shouting to the back of the room. "FELI! Shut the goddamn record player off, would you!?"
His brother's head pops out from the side of the doorframe, smiling brightly. "But fratello! Tomorrow is il Natale! Don't you think we should at least celebrate with music?"
"The mafia doesn't have time for fucking winter wonderlands, Feli! I said turn it off!" Lovino hollers stormily, prompting his brother to scamper to the record player in haste.
"Now where was I?" he redirects his usual glare back to the patiently waiting couple. "Oh, yeah. As your capo, you're under my jurisdiction, so any of your fuck-ups are ultimately my fuck-ups, and my boss will get pissed." Lovino menacingly points the end of his burned cigar towards Ludwig. "So you better start using another way to fill our client's assignments before both our balls get cut off, capisce?"
"Yes, yes, we've got it, Lovino." Emma smiles prettily at her boss. "I'll make sure this one listens for once." She lightly squeezes her lover's arm in warning, gaze not once wavering from Lovino's frown. "Isn't that right, dear?"
"Of course," Ludwig answers stoically. "You have my word." Lovino scoffs in disdain.
"Yeah, yeah, that's what you said last time." He waves his hand in dismissal to both of his underlings, propping his feet back up on his desk and cigarette back in his mouth. "Now get out of here, you've got one last job for the night, if you haven't forgotten. Then you can celebrate Christmas Eve like the idiotic lovebirds you are."
Ludwig bows his head in thanks, while Emma swings around to the door, dragging her lover with her.
"You bet! We've got a diner for 9 o'clock at the Stork Club! Don't worry; this time I'll make sure we get the job done just the way you want it. Bye, Lovino!" she waves her arm in farewell without looking back before exiting the room.
Lovino simply snorts derisively, grabbing the newspaper on his desk and flipping through the pages. Behind him, Feliciano sneaks back to the record player, Christmas themed vinyl in hand.
Translations:
famiglia - family
fratello - brother
il natale - christmas
capo - boss
capisce - understood
