Lovino tried to prepare himself for the meeting, but he had no idea what to expect. He wasn't even sure how upset he was. His grandfather, Antonio, and all of the other family members knew what they were getting into, and if he was being perfectly honest, he might say that he thought they deserved it, but that didn't change the fact that they were people he knew and, as hard as it was to admit, cared about. And then, on top of everything, Lovino and Feliciano were still being targeted. Anger, fear, and an amalgamation of other unpleasant emotions melded together somewhere in his gut, and it took all Lovino had not to let it show. He had never been good at hiding his emotions, but it didn't seem to matter anyway as Amelia was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to comment.
They walked silently down the street until Amelia slowed down and checked the paper she had gotten from Eduard.
"I think this is it," she said, pointing towards a quaint storefront advertising Swedish handmade furniture. It didn't look like a base for a criminal business, but then again, neither did the Vargas family's Italian restaurant.
The inside of the store was brightly lit with stylish ceiling lamps that, when paired with the yellow wallpaper and hardwood floors, brought forth a feeling of warmth to those who didn't know better. Sleek furniture sets were arranged artfully around the room, some being looked over by potential customers. Throughout the store there was a faint sound of a song by some popular Swedish pop band that Lovino couldn't remember the name of.
They made a beeline for the first employee they saw, a young guy with pale hair bent over a coffee table with a dusting cloth.
"Excuse me," Amelia said, tapping him on the shoulder. Engrossed in his task, and quietly singing about dancing queens, he jumped at the touch and turned around.
"I'm sorry, you star...AMELIA?" A few customers turned at the outburst and the man covered his mouth in embarrassment.
"Amelia," he said again, much quieter, "How are you...we thought you were dead!"
"Yeah, long story short, I'm not. Now we really need to speak to Tino."
"Tino? Oh my god, Tino! And everyone else! They're going to freak when they see you!" His voice had risen again, bringing another round of glares.
A door along the back wall of the store swung open and a hulking blond man with glasses stepped out. "Emil," he said in a low voice, "What's going on?"
Emil immediately pointed at Amelia, who waved sheepishly. "Hi, Berwald."
He studied her up and down, his stern expression unchanging. "Is it really you?" he finally asked.
Amelia nodded with a small smile and Berwald moved forward to pull her into a tight hug. Finally breaking away, he held her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "What happened?"
"Berwald, I need to talk to Tino."
He looked her over again, then nodded curtly. "C'mon," he replied, letting go. He turned around and took a step before abruptly spinning back again and sending a glare over Amelia's head. Lovino froze in his tracks, thoroughly intimidated.
"Not you," Berwald grunted, "You stay here."
It took a moment and a whining protest from behind for Lovino to realize that it was Emil who was being addressed, not him. Amelia, noticing his discomfort, bent down to whisper in his ear as they followed Berwald to the back of the building.
"He's not as scary as he seems," she assured, "I promise. He's probably the least dangerous person here, actually."
"That really doesn't make me feel better," he whispered back.
Berwald led them up a flight of stairs and into a quaint little apartment. It looked like it could have been an extension of the furniture store below if it weren't for the obvious signs of residency, namely the three men seated around the round kitchen table sipping coffee.
"Tino!" Berwald called out, showing more emotion than he had since they arrived. It was almost comical the way he effortlessly picked up Amelia and placed her in front of him. All three men shot up from their chairs, their mouths agape.
"Amelia?" one of them said.
"Tino!" she answered.
Lovino couldn't say what he expected of his grandfather's killer, but it certainly wasn't this. Judging by the way Amelia's nose brushed the top of his blonde head as they hugged, Tino was short, shorter than Lovino even. His boyish face made it hard to guess his age, and his round shoulders gave his build an impression of softness. Everything Lovino had planned on saying flew out of his head and he stood in silence as he watched Amelia go through yet another reunion.
After promising to give everyone the whole story of her survival later, Amelia shifted attention towards Lovino.
"Lovino," she said softly, her eyes carefully studying his face, "This is Tino. Tino, this is Lovino."
Tino smiled warmly and held out his hand. "It's so nice to meet you!"
Lovino looked down at the outstretched palm, then back up again.
"You killed my grandfather," he stated matter-of-factly.
"...Oh…" Tino's smile faltered.
"Yesterday. You killed him yesterday."
"...Oh...Did he work for Vargas?" Tino's arm fell limply to his side.
"My grandfather was Vargas."
Nobody said anything as they stared at each other through the suffocating awkwardness. The silence was finally broken by a rather dramatic cough, followed by someone hissing "Really,Matthias?"
"What? I'm not allowed to cough?" Lovino turned to see a tall, spiky-haired man rubbing his side where he was just elbowed by a shorter man with a cross-shaped hair clip.
Amelia stepped in between Tino and Lovino, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Look," she said, "This was probably not the best way to go about this."
"You think?" Lovino shot back.
She pursed her lips, but continued. "Tino, could you give us a minute to talk alone?"
He nodded vigorously. "Of course! Why don't you use the living room? Would you like some coffee?"
"That'd be great," she answered, already dragging Lovino into the next room.
When they were alone, Lovino buried his head in his hands and groaned.
"Hey," Amelia said softly, "Are you alright? I mean, I guess you're not alright… but, like, are you going to be able to do this?"
"I...I don't know," he answered truthfully, "I'm just...I wasn't sure what to expect. My grandfather and I...it wasn't like how it was between you and your brother. He was never there for us. All he really wanted was someone to take over his syndicate, but I wasn't going to do that and Feli...he could never. All we were to him were failures and I hated it...I hated him. And I always figured it would end like this, with him getting his brains blown out, but I thought it would be personal, you know? That he'd fall during some gunfight like in the movies and it would be this dramatic end to his reign of terror but no. Instead he was shot by some random guy who lives above a fucking furniture store and I just...I just want to know why he did it."
"He's a hitman, Lovino…"
"I want to hear it from him."
Amelia looked at him with a strange, sad expression and nodded sagely. "Yeah, okay." She silently pulled him into a quick but tight hug. "Are you ready to ask him?"
"Yeah, I think I am."
The two returned to the kitchen to see Tino sitting alone at the table with a folder placed in front of him. Two chairs faced him, each with a steaming cup of coffee before them. Berwald was gone, but the other two men were standing nervously by the door. All three figures eyed Lovino warily as he sat down next to Amelia.
"So," Lovino began, struggling to maintain his cool demeanor, "Are all of your buddies hitmen or is it just you?"
Tino's eyes widened slightly at the bluntness. "It's just me, Matthias, and Lucas involved in that business. Emil, the boy you met downstairs, he's Lucas's brother, but he mostly just works in the store. Technically, I'm a co-owner with Berwald, but my husband's the one who really keeps it running."
"Husband?" Lovino repeated with curiosity.
"Not legally, of course, but we've been together for over a decade, so boyfriend sounds a bit too juvenile, and partner has such professional connotations." Tino studied Lovino as if he was trying to see if that was a problem. It wasn't, but even if it was, Lovino was smart enough not to say so.
"Ah. So, you were paid to kill my grandfather?"
"Yes." There was a surprising lack of hesitation.
"And that's the only reason you did it? No vendetta or revenge plan?"
"Not of my own. You have to understand, Lovino, it's not personal. I've never met your grandfather, or anyone from the Vargas family. I was contacted by a third party in need of my services."
"So this third party paid you to kill twenty-six men yesterday afternoon?"
"Not quite. The first condition of the contract was that I would kill your grandfather. As the leader of the syndicate, he was the top priority, and the contract would only be upheld if he was dead. Then, I was provided with a list of members to target, for each of these members I took out, I would be provided with additional compensation. Please forgive me if I would prefer not to disclose that amount. I was notified of the political rally your grandfather organized, and instructed to carry out the murders on that day, and that day only. " He chuckled. "I don't think my client expected me to be as good at my job as I am."
"So you killed everyone on the list?"
"No, just the listed members that attended that rally. But that was only what I did personally. Lucas and Matthias were posted outside your grandfather's home and restaurant and together they killed five more men. So that would be thirty-one. That was most of the list, but not all."
"I was at the rally, but you didn't kill me."
"You weren't on the list." He pushed the folder forward. "See for yourself."
Lovino rifled through its contents, an organized list of family members, each with a name, picture, and physical information. Most of the entries were marked with red Xs, and Lovino recognized them as the murdered men. Sure enough, Lovino was not listed, but that fact was forgotten when he came across a grainy picture of Feliciano's smiling face. The lack of red on the page had Lovino almost crying out in relief. He turned the folder to face Tino.
"What do you know about this man?" he asked.
Tino took the folder and read over the entry. "Feliciano Vargas, non-member associate, grandson of…"
"No," Lovino cut him off, "I mean, did you see him yesterday?"
"If I saw him yesterday, he'd be dead. Everyone on that list with a mark next to them either attended that rally or came by the house or restaurant."
Lovino narrowed his eyes and snatched back the folder. "That doesn't make sense," he thought out loud, "Feli said he'd meet us at the rally. We couldn't find him, but he should have been there!" He flipped through the folder again until he found Ludwig Beilschmidt's frowning face, also unmarked. "His bodyguard didn't show up either?"
"Isn't that a good thing?" Amelia asked, "Why are you so upset?"
"Because none of this makes sense!" Lovino turned to Antonio's entry. "Look! Why would they target my bodyguard, but not me?" He looked up at Tino. "Who paid you to do this?"
"I don't know," he answered quietly.
"You don't know?" Lovino repeated incredulously, "How could you not know? What kind of hitman are you?"
"A discreet one."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lovino's voice was rising, but he didn't care. "What, do you just get hit-lists in the mail and start shooting?"
"I have a representative meet with clients in an undisclosed location. I never talk to them in person."
"Well that's just fucking great, isn't it?" Lovino sat back in the chair and let out a harsh laugh. "The one assassin in the city that doesn't ask questions."
Tino had the audacity to remain calm throughout the exchange, albeit mildly concerned about the outbursts. Lovino couldn't believe professional murderer could be so patronizing.
Amelia placed her hand on Lovino's forearm as she addressed Tino. "Could it have been Ivan that contacted you? We have reason to believe that he's been out for the Vargas family."
Tino shrugged. "Could be, I'm not sure. Like I said, I use a third-party, this Romanian friend of Lucas's. I suppose I could contact him to ask, but for all I know, the client used a representative too."
Amelia glanced at Lovino for approval. "Yes," he said, "We'd like to talk to him."
"Alright," Tino replied, "But honestly, I don't think it was Ivan."
"What makes you say that?" Amelia asked.
"I don't think he'd try to work with me after I abandoned him. You know how he is, Amelia. If someone betrays him, he'd do anything for revenge, you know that better than anyone. He went after you and Matthew when you two drifted away, then he tried to get Gilbert and Elizaveta when they left, then Yekaterina…"
"Woah, woah, woah, wait," Amelia interrupted, "What did you just say?"
"Yekaterina left. She's his sister so he was a little lenient with her, but…"
"No, before that. Gilbert and Elizabeta left?"
"Yeah, they were the first to go. They were really pissed about what happened, we all were."
"So they don't work for Ivan anymore? Like, at all. No connection whatsoever?"
"I mean, I left right after them, so I can't say for certain, but I seriously doubt they'd go back, or that Ivan would even let them."
"Oh shit," she muttered bringing her hands to her face, "Shit, shit, shit, do you know what this means?"
"No?" Tino answered.
"No, not you, Lovino! Lovino, when we saw them at the casino, they weren't there for Ivan!"
Lovino, who had been struck speechless by this revelation, felt his mouth drop. "Why were they there then?"
Amelia turned back to Tino. "Do you know where they were going when they defected?"
"Not specifically," he answered with confusion.
"He said he was going to find his brother," another voice interjected, reminding the three that there were other people in the room. It belonged to the taller man, Matthias, who was now staring with wide eyes. "He told me that his brother was a bodyguard for another syndicate. His dad, too. He said that he was going to try and reconcile with them."
"What was Gilbert's last name?" Lovino asked, his voice careful and low.
"I don't know," Amelia admitted. Tino shrugged as well.
"It was something German, I think," mused Matthias, "Something-schmit...like WeirSchmit, or…"
"Beilschmidt," Lucas stated matter-of-factly, "His name was Gilbert Beilschmidt."
"Oh my god," Lovino exclaimed, "We have to get back to that casino."
"Huh?" Amelia shook her head in confusion, "Why?"
"Beilschmidt, Amelia!" He pointed to Ludwig's name in the folder, "Look! Then look at this." He flipped to the page listing his grandfather's bodyguard. "Also Beilschmidt. They're father and son and they work for my family as bodyguards."
Amelia gasped and jumped up from her chair, pulling Lovino up with her. "Holy shit, you're right! C'mon, we gotta go!"
"Hold on," Matthias said, "I'm confused. What about a casino?"
"I'll explain later," Amelia said over her shoulder, "I promise!"
"Amelia, wait!" Tino called out.
But they were already out the door.
