Dear All,

I know it has been too long! So sorry! Please enjoy another chapter. Another to come soon enough.

XOXO,

A.G


After the events described, Regina became more sombre than ever, and even Mal could not tell what plots ran through her depressed mind. She walked around the garden, with the assistance of a cane, her wounds would certainly take a while to fully heal. Mal knew in her heart that the worse thing for Regina was to feel powerless. She saw her many a time, trying to break the shit out of that cane against whatever object that she could find and deemed hard enough. But with such great deal of wandering and thinking, came a plot. And it involved Henry's father. She had finally gotten his location, after so many years of searching. She had to admit, Robin's friends were valuable scouts and very loyal people. She found that John was someone she could trust. That gentle giant proved himself useful countless times during her recovery. She kept him close. They often talked in the garden, sitting at the table, drinking tea. Regina would ask him to tell her stories of Robin. They always brought a smile to her often-frowning face. He would help her move and carry things around. At first, Malva felt a little left out, but Regina needed something to give her hope of seeing her lover again.

The idea that soon Robin and the children would be back was the only thing keeping her remotely sane. But patience was running out, tension was thickening and that mixed with too much bad blood was having its aftereffects. Every day, associates would lose personnel. It was bad for business; it meant less coverage of territory. The people defying her power, her patience, were people she had seen before; this made Regina take a dangerous leap of faith. It was an attempt to regain her dignity and ensure people still knew who ruled over them.

In the wee hours of the morning, two weeks later after the events I told you about, Roberto Tremotino woke up to two gunshots and loud bangs inside his house. Still dazed from sleep, he opened his bedside table, took a gun from it, loaded it and put on a robe. Took his cane and walked in his pajamas towards his spacious, luxurious living room. Sitting on the couch, with her famiglia behind her was none other than the Matriarch, the Queen herself, Regina Mills. The at least fifty people in the room were dressed in black, matching her. She was the only one sitting. There was absolute silence. Only Tremotino's cane resounded in the night.

"What is the meaning of this, Regina?" he sneered, standing by the corridor.

"I was in the neighborhood and thought I could pay you a visit", she said, sounding light like a breeze.

"It's three o'clock in the morning! This is hardly a social call."

"Hardly, yes" she smiled, eyes shining dangerously. "I was rather…disappointed when you didn't come to pay me a visit when I was unwell", she said keeping her façade.

"I don't get out much these days", Tremotino shrugged, sitting on the armchair right in front of her.

"Oh, I see…You're old and tired. Business takes care of itself; I hear it has never been better."

"Get to the point, will you? What are you doing here? What do you want?"

Regina's smile vanished. Her blood-red lips conveyed an angry grimace, her teeth bare, eyes shone with wrath.

"I want my son and the people I sent with him safely back home, since after your betrayal, I was forced to send him away for his own safety."

"Betrayal?"

"When you lined up with Green, you gave Sallozzo the idea of recruiting the dirty cops in town and helped eliminate Hunter and thusly weakening my position among families. What made you undermine the mother of your own grandson, Roberto? What possessed you to go against the one you so carefully nurtured into a monster? A monster, I may say, you can no longer contain."

"I don't have to tell you a thing, you pathetic child…"

At his words, fifty guns were pointed to him.

"I beg to differ", Regina smiled playfully. "You better start talking."

"Oh Regina… killing me won't give you answers or make you situation among the families any better."

"Who said I would kill you? No, I'll let you live. The same can't be said about Neil."

And it was then, that one of Regina's associate brough forth a man, tied, gagged and blindfolded.

"Neil… You wouldn't", Tremotino sneered, finally feeling cornered.

Regina let out a deliciously evil giggle.

"Oh, I would. Neil is the reason I came to America, the reason why I got corrupted by you and sold by you to Leopold fucking Blanchard! I have every reason to want to kill him, right here. I would enjoy nothing more than spilling his blood on your lovely carpet. But I don't think you'd like that. So, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse. I won't turn him into swiss cheese, and you'll spill the beans and tell me all about your deal with the Greens."

"Your territory; that's what they promised if I could manage to convince you that the business was worth it or eliminate you so you and your family couldn't interfere. I paid Heller to disclose your location on Christmas morning and tipped Sallozzo of the people guarding you at the hospital."

"Guess things didn't go according to plan, huh? What about Henry?"

"I'd keep him, of course."

"Of course…" BANG! Roberto was bleeding from his right foot, contorting in agony. The fuming gun was on Regina's hand. "I'm sorry, Roberto; you shot yourself on the foot, there. In what universe did you think that I, of all people, would allow that? Did you dream it? You certainly did. Henry is my son. Mine! You gave him away, you tossed him into my arms the night Neil showed up at your door with him, asking for more cocaine and dough. He had no qualms abandoning him. Neither did you. If I remember correctly, you were relieved. But then again, I shouldn't be so surprised. After all, you are scum", she said carefree as the old man screamed and cried in pain.

"Fucking bitch!"

"I grew tired of you trying to pull my strings, Roberto; always provoking, always pushing my limits. The real question is, will it happen again?" Roberto let out another pained cry as Regina grabbed him by the hair and lifted him from the floor. "I don't think the good people in the back can hear you! Do you hear him, Augurio?"

"Not a bit", Malva said, as a matter of fact.

"Say it, Roberto, so I can know you mean it."

"I-I won't do it again"

Regina laughed.

"Good; now, tell me. Am I going to have a hard time bringing Henry back because of you?"

"No. But you will find that I play a very long game. You…you are nothing more than one of my pawns."

"Oh, but Roberto, this pawn crossed the board! I have survived, however crushed, battered and broken. I prevail, I endure, I rise. It was nice talking to you. See you around."

And Tremotino looked again, Regina was gone and so were her fifty soldiers and Neil.

Regina felt avenged, sated for now. But the consequences of her little display of power would soon make themselves known. Robert Tremotino played indeed a very long game…and Queens sometimes lose.