Chapter 20

Giuseppe drove as fast as he dared. He was making very good time, all things considering. He estimated that in about 10 minutes, he'd be home and he might actually be early. He'd forgotten to take the time change into affect and that was why it was supposed to take so much longer. He was going just 5 miles over the sped limit, he'd didn't want to get caught by a police officer for going to fast. That was the last thing that he needed right now. All he had left to do for this job was get home, and that was what he was going to do.

Matt's plane had been just about ready to take off the minute that he had driven into the airfield. He had been surprised when Matt was the one who had come out to tell them. He hadn't thought that Matt would be the one driving. In the end, it turned out that he was right- Matt wasn't the one flying the plane but he was coming home with them. Matt had made sure that they were on their way and in the air in less then 3 minutes. And then, he had obsessed himself over Spencer. Not that Giuseppe hadn't done the same thing. They hadn't seen in the boy for quite a while. Too long for their liking in all reality. Even if the boy had been a bit of a know-it-all pain in the neck. They had checked him over, made sure that if he happened to wake up he would be comfortable, and then checked him over again. And again. A few times he moved and groaned- gave them hope that maybe he was waking up from the drug induced slumber. No such luck.

Sooner then they thought, they reached the ground. They had made very good time. Now they had to make sure that they didn't waste it on whatever it was that they were doing. That would bring about their death- for that, both Mat and Giuseppe were certain. Matt had insisted on being the one to take Spencer into the car, and then he had sat in the backseat. He wanted to be the one with him when he woke up. That's where he was now, quietly talking to him in Italian to try and wake him up. So far as Giuseppe knew, it wasn't working to well. Suddenly, almost out of the blue, Matt yelled at him.

"STOP THE CAR!" Matt hollered. Surprised, Giuseppe slammed on the brakes and swerved to the other side of the road. The moment that he was able to think rationally, he wondered what in god's name had made Matt cry out like that. He turned around in his chair to see his brothers in the back seat. Matt had put Spencer's head in his lap and as far as Giuseppe could see, he didn't know what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Giu asked concerned. Matt looked at him like he had a third head before answering in a voice that made Giu feel stupid. Matt eyes were boring into his own and Giu seen happiness and surprise like no other.

"He's waking up." Matt said quietly. Giu opened his eyes wide, surprised and he devoted his entire attention to his little brother, willing him to prove Matt right, to show them both that he was indeed waking up. That's when he seen him move and mumble something. Matt and Giu leaned in to try and hear what he was saying but only Matt heard. And Matt's face was lit with a gigantic smile.

"What did he say?" Giu asked quickly, once again looking over at his brothers before momentarily looking out the window to check for any cops. Matt looked at him and smirked before coughing, bringing Giu's attention back to him.

"It worked. Your concoction." Matt breathed in silent amazement. "It actually worked!" Giu looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know? What did he say? Matt, you have to tell me!" Giu begged with his older brother who had set his face into a firm smirk. Giu begged some more, making Matt chuckle. When Matt chuckled, Giu was filled with hope. He didn't do that very often.

"He fell right back into his mother tongue." Matt said simply enough. Giu's eyes went wide again. He held his breath. Was it possible? Was there really any way that it could've worked? He raised his eyebrows at Matt who just smiled and nodded.

"You mean to tell me, that little brother fell back into Italian?!?" Matt just nodded. If Giu had been anywhere else, he would've jumped for joy. But he wasn't anywhere else. He was here.

That's when Spencer suddenly opened his eyes and yawned. He moved slightly, as if he wanted to shake off some of the sleep that was still in his before yawning yet again. His brother's froze. Had the concoction really worked? Had all the planning been for nothing, or were things looking up for the Antonelli's once again? Spencer rubbed his eyes, once again trying to get rid of the sleep that was left there. Matt couldn't help it. He pushed some of his hair out of his eyes. That's when his brother seemed to really notice for the first time that there was someone other then him there. He froze for a moment but relaxed just as quickly. A puzzled look passed over his face, making Matt feel a little bit uneasy. Then suddenly, his face lit into a giant grin, giving Matt hope once again and making Giu's spirit's soar.

"Hi Matt!" he proclaimed to his older brother who just smiled at him. Both Giu and Matt felt relief wash over them as he continued to smile. He looked over at Giuseppe and Giu knew that this was the true test. Did he remember him holding the gun to his head? Giu got his answer when Spencer's smile didn't even waver.

"Hey Luca." Giu said, leaning over and ruffling his brother's hair. He froze suddenly when he noticed exactly what he had called him. The name that his father had given him. Spencer might have been his public name but he hardly ever called him Spencer. Their father had hated the name. So he had called him Luca. And because what their father said was law, they had called him Luca too. To his surprise, the boy didn't even seem to notice. Taking in his name like he had been called that every day since the day that he was born. Giu ruffled his brother's hair again and he felt his little lean into the touch. That more then anything else told Giuseppe that the drug had indeed worked.

"Hey yourself, Giu." Luca responded. Then he suddenly frowned. "Matt?" Luca asked. Matt and Giu shared a look that told the other that they were both feeling the same thing- fear. Giu gulped.

"Yes Luca?" Matt answered him quietly, wondering what was wrong exactly. What his little brother wanted. Luca's eyes dropped to the floor before coming up to meet Matt's own. They were filled with fear and Matt wondered what could fill him with so much fear. "What is it, buddy?"

"I can't remember the last……" he counted on his fingers looking up at Matt, "15 years. Matt what's wrong with me?" Giu almost breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid, so afraid that it might not have worked. Now he knew that it had. And so he could stop worrying about it.

"Luca it's okay. We wondered if there would be any lasting side effects." Matt said, pretending to be worried and concerned at the same time. His father had made up a story to tell his son so that the events were the same. His father knew that after he was told the events, the brain would take these story's and store them as memories. He smiled at the boy who sat up in the seat beside him and leaned against the door. He had an obvious question on his face, wondering what it was that had happened. Matt was soon proved right.

"Lasting effects from what? What happened?" Luca asked curiously. His brothers smiled at him. This was way too easy. He wasn't trying to fight them off, he trusted them completely. Like he would've if their mother had never taken him away. Trusting, yet none comprehending eyes were looking at them. And it momentarily made them both feel guilty about what was going to happen next.

"Lasting effects from the car crash, buddy." Giu comforted, smiling at his little brother's puzzled face.

"What happened?" Luca asked, pulling away from the door and once again leaning on Matt and letting Matt's arms entour around him in a hug. How Matt had missed his little brother. He hesitated, but only for a moment before he began his tale.

"A few years ago, when you were 9, when you were living with Mom and your step-father."

"Step-father? I've got a Step-father?" Luca questioned, cutting Matt off. Matt looked at him and he instantly fell quiet. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's okay. Yes, you've got a step-father. Anyways, as I was saying you were 9 when Mom passed away. She was killed in a car crash. Luckily, you weren't with her at the time. Your step-father decided that we were capable of watching out for you most of the time, but you spent a weekend with him every other weekend. That's why you're with us instead of Mom."

"Mom passed away?" Luca asked suddenly. He seemed shocked, surprised and sad at the same time. For the second time since he'd woken up, they both felt bad about lying to him. He didn't deserve this. He was only a kid. Suddenly he shrugged. "I guess if it was that long ago, then it's an old pain." He said quietly. If you were to look into his eyes you would see the pain that he was honestly trying to hide, but he wasn't having much luck. However, his determination is admirable. "What happened next?" he asked, pushing back the fake memory into the corner of his mind. Matt looked at Giu who coughed before continuing. They both felt like maybe they shouldn't have told him that particular lie right now.

"Pa was able to get instructions to us from the jail. So it really didn't matter that he wasn't here. It was almost exactly the same as before he was caught. You've grown up a lot, and on many occasions, you've proved your genius to us. Pa used to say when you were small that you were genius and when you finished high school at the top of your class 10 days before your 12th birthday, I guess that just put the icing on the cake. "

"Really?" Luca asked surprised. Giu and Matt couldn't help but laugh at their little brother who turned a shade of red and took on a goofy grin. He waited until they were done with their laughing. "Please do continue." Giu laughed. Their brother was still quite the character.

"You started officially working with us when you were 13. You were in an undercover operation when your car backfired, sending you and Carlos into heavenly black oblivion. Only difference is, he woke up almost right after the crash. When he couldn't wake you, he panicked and took you to our step-father who got in contact with us to come help with you. That's where we've spent a lot of the last few weeks, little brother. The car crash was almost a month ago. We thought you might never wake up. That's why we were so surprised when you woke up on us almost out of the blue." Matt finished. He could almost see Luca calculating and storing the entire story into long-term memory. Luca gave him a looking over.

"So Carlos and everyone else is alright?" Luca asked quietly. Matt just nodded. Something wasn't right. He had another question or something. The Luca that he knew was not quiet very often. He was soon proved right. "Who's my step-father?" Matt racked his brain for the Casino Owner who had been married to his mother, once upon a time. Finally the name popped into his head at almost the exact same moment as it popped into Giu's. In unison, they said the name.

"Laurant St. Antonine." Luca's eyes became big, almost like he didn't quite believe what he was hearing. They raised their eyebrows in question. Luca finally came out of his temporary paralyzes.

"The Laurant St. Antonine?" Luca asked in absolute shock. Giu and Matt looked at each other. Had they said something wrong? Laurant St. Antonine was like a 2nd father to all of them. He was actually their father's 4th cousin or something like that- which was probably the only reason he approved of them spending any kind of time with him. And he had really been married to their mother after Luca had left for university and before you was deemed a schizophrenic. Uncle Laurant as they called him, knew the story that they were giving to the kid was fake. He knew it, and he agreed with it. Like most of the criminal family, all they wanted was to get 'the genius kid back'.

"Yeah, Laurant St. Antonine. He owns the casino…." Matt started but was surprisingly cut off by his little brother.

"'Flamboyant' in Las Vegas. I know. He used to be a very famous gambler. Apparently he's got some gamblers on his own payroll now-a-days. Did you know that the best gamblers in the world are actually fabulous mathematicians? That and they have an exceptional amount of luck." Luca said all in one breath. He stopped to catch his breath before looking straight at them. "And he's our step-father?" They just nodded their head's in agreement.

Suddenly, Matt's phone rang. He didn't even have to look at the caller ID to have a vague idea who it was that was phoning him. He looked at his watch and almost gasped at the time. They had taken a long time to talk with their little brother. They had been a good 45 minutes ahead of schedule and now they were behind by almost an hour. He gulped and picked up his cell phone. The first thing he noticed was just how angry his father was.

"Matt, where the hell are you?" his father asked. And then he started ranting. Matt took the phone away from his ear and handed it to Luca who gave him a puzzled look.

"It's for you." Was the only answer he got. Luca lifted the phone to his ear just in time to hear his father.

"WELL?!?" his father asked furiously. Luca was sure of the identity but asked anyways.

"Pa?" he asked. The rant stopped dead cold in mid-sentence. Luca heard his father catch his breath.

"Luca?"

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Toni had been furiously pacing, even though his son Napoleon was trying very hard to calm him down. But he was in no mood to calm down, and he didn't want to listen to reason. When Napoleon had yelled at him to chill, that had been the last straw and Toni had sent the furious young man on his way. HE couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe Matt and Giu were going to take his youngest further away from him. As they passed the deadline he got more worried then furious. And then the furry came back to equal out the two. Then it hit him. Matt had his cell phone on him. All he had to do was call him. He picked up the phone and dialed the number. He waited. He didn't have to wait long. Matt picked it upon the 3rd ring. He didn't give him a chance to explain.

"Where the hell have you been?" he started and then he ranted. And he ranted. And he ranted some more. When he didn't get a response the minute that he took a breath he questioned Matt. "WELL?!?!" Then, he heard a voice calling a name that he never thought he'd hear again.

"Pa?" asked a timid little voice. His breath hitched. Could it be Luca? Had the drug worked? If it had that meant that they were coming home. That he was coming home. He savored the sound of his son's voice. God, how he'd missed that sound.

"Luca?" he asked wondering how he'd managed to miss his son's life. He could almost hear his son smile.

"Yup, it's me Pa." he heard Luca say. He smiled.

"I didn't think I'd ever hear your voice again. You don't know how happy it makes me. You really don't." he heard his son giggle happily and felt his heart soar. "Are you boys on your way home?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're on our way home. I just woke up. Sorry, Pa." his son's voice filled with a bit of sorrow and he felt his own heart drop and he felt sorry for his son.

"No, no that's okay. Don't worry about it sweetheart. Just make sure you're home for dinner. We're having your favourite."

"Alright. We should be home soon. See you then, Pa." Luca responded to Toni's great joy.

"See you soon Luca. " He almost hung up the phone. But then he showed a sign of the little compassion left in his heart. "I love you Luca."

"I love you too, Pa." And with that his son hung up the phone. He wondered momentarily if maybe he should be angry with his son. Usually it was him that ended things. He let it go. Phase 1 was really and truly complete. His son was coming home. And no-one was going to stop him. No-one. His son was coming home to stay.

Making everything right in the world.