Starting to get into the plot with this one as well as meeting the villain. Let me know what you guys think so far :)

Chapter Two

Bucciarati's contacts, unfortunately, could not give him a lot of information on Marcello. The man had started encroaching on their territory only recently so it wasn't like there'd been a lot of interest in him prior to that.

He did, however, find out which gambling establishment Marcello preferred, and had a feeling this was the place where David had bet the bakery.

"Any luck?" Giorno asked him as they all gathered for dinner, which Trish and Mista were currently serving up.

"A few leads," Bruno replied and turned to Abbacchio who strode into the dining room, hands in his pockets. "Abbacchio, tomorrow I want you and Mista to go to Marcello's preferred gambling house and see if you can use Moody Blues to track down any leads about what actually happened."

"Sure," Abbacchio nodded.

"Yeah, you know, she was pretty cute, from what I saw of her," Mista said with a grin. "We don't usually get such nice-looking clients."

Bruno frowned at him. "I hope you will be more professional if you should meet her face-to-face, Mista," he said, though, he couldn't truly disagree with the gunman. Maria had been rather fetching. But it wasn't really his place to think that; especially not when he was supposed to be helping the young woman.

"Yeah, of course," Mista promised, grabbing a roll and picking pieces off of it to feed to Sex Pistols.

Trish rolled her eyes at him, but glanced down at her plate. "I just feel bad for what happened to her. It's hard to lose everyone like that."

Bruno gave her a soft look, knowing Trish understood that deeply. "That's why I want us to be able to restore her family business to her. That will at least give her a livelihood and hopefully ease the sting a little." How he still wished sometimes that he had simply had the luxury of taking over his own father's business. Out there every day on the ocean, the salty spray in his face. A fisherman's life wasn't exactly easy, but his father had been content, and so had Bruno, even if they had never had much. The slippery hopes of past dreams were always hard to let go of.

"It's nice to have the ability to help people like that," Giorno admitted. "I would like to do as much of that as possible now that we've taken over Passione."

"I am in full agreement, Giorno," Bruno told him proudly, and even Abbacchio didn't give the blonde teen a snide look this time, instead nodding along with the others. Bruno couldn't help but smile.

Despite his past dreams of a simpler life, he was content, even happy, with this family he had found for himself.

The next morning, Bucciarati made a few calls and finished up a couple pressing matters before he turned his attention back to Maria's case.

Abbacchio and Mista were sent off to the gambling house to see what they could find out there, and Bruno decided to call Maria, asking when a good time to stop by would be. He got up to go over to the phone and dialed the number she had given him.

"Hello?" Maria's voice came over the line after a couple rings.

"Good morning, it's Bucciarati," he replied. "I was just wondering what time would be best to meet at the bakery?"

"Oh, well, any time would be fine," she said, sounding a bit flustered. "I'm just out shopping right now, but…"

"That's all right, how about eleven-thirty?" Bruno suggested, glancing at the clock and seeing that was two hours from now.

"That would be fine," she replied. "Thank you again."

"I'll see you later," Bruno told her and hung up the call.

Giorno came into the office with a stack of letters. "Are you off then?" he asked.

"Not quite yet," Bruno replied. "I have a few things I need to finish. Oh, and I forgot, that we had a meeting with Fontana today about his new territory. I'm afraid I might miss it. Will you be okay leading that by yourself?"

Giorno bit his lip, but nodded. "I…think so."

Bruno smiled at him and went over to set a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "You led the last meeting with hardly any input from me, and he's a new capo, doesn't really know what he's doing, so he'll probably be nervous. As long as you assert your authority, everything will go well."

"Okay," Giorno breathed, seeming to relax a little.

"Take Fugo with you as well," Bruno suggested. "That way if you have trouble with any analytics, he can take over. Trust me, he's very handy with that kind of thing." Heaven knew that Bruno, with his poor drop-out's education was still wary of such things as analytics and numbers. And while Giorno was certainly a bright young man, Bruno had found him also woefully poor at math. It was good to have someone to check their numbers for them, especially in a line of work that relied on keeping track of a lot of money going in and out.

Giorno nodded. "I'll do that." He went over to his desk and sat down with a sigh. "This is just…sometimes it seems like there's so much work to do."

"I know," Bruno replied with a wry smile. "But you're doing well. Really, Giorno. I'm very impressed."

Giorno's cheeks tinged pink a little, seeming pleased, if not a little embarrassed by the praise. "I just like knowing that it's all going toward making this city what I've always wished it would be."

"Exactly," Bruno said as he stood to go over to the fax machine in the corner, preparing to send some things. "We'll start with Marcello today, and eventually, there won't be any others like him."

"I would love to see that," Giorno admitted quietly before they both went back to work.

Bruno couldn't really remember the last time he had felt so optimistic. Must be something in the air.

Maria carried her shopping bags up to David's apartment on the third floor of the building. It was a bit of a trek, but she was used to it after living in her tiny student apartment in Rome. David's was bigger, but not by much. She wondered vaguely if he had been planning to buy a bigger place if he hadn't been forced to pay Marcello for the deed to the store because of his gambling debts. She sighed, grateful that she, at least, had a place to stay while back in Napoli. Even if it was all filled with sad, somewhat bitter memories that made her just feel heavy.

She shuffled the bags around to dig the keys from her pocket and opened the door just as the phone was ringing.

Sighing again, she hefted the groceries onto the kitchen table and hurried to answer it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Have you reconsidered your stance on the bakery yet?"

Marcello's voice was obvious on the other line and Maria froze up instantly.

"I already told you, you have no right to the business!" she forced out. "I will get a lawyer involved if you keep this up…"

A cold chuckle sounded on the other end. "Time's ticking, signorina. I gave you fair warning. You have six more days until I come for what's mine."

The call cut off and Maria was left standing there, trembling, as she clutched the phone to her ear. She forced herself to slam it back into the cradle and angrily started to put the groceries away. She hated that man, and…in a way, she hated her brother too, though not really. As many mistakes as David made, she still loved him and she knew he always meant well. She just wished they could have had the chance to figure this out together instead of her being alone.

She glanced up at the clock and saw that it was already after eleven. She must have taken longer shopping than she had thought.

Hurriedly, she put the last few things away and grabbed her purse, hurrying out of the apartment. She could not leave Bucciarati waiting, that would be mortifying. He had already been so kind as to offer assistance even though her family hadn't been paying protection for three years, she couldn't waste any more of his time. She was sure he was constantly busy.

Thankfully, he was not at the bakery as she got there and unlocked the door. It felt… sad, Maria thought as she stepped inside, the familiar tinkle of the bell ringing in greeting. She had grown up here, and it had always been so full of life. She and David had always worked here with their father after school and over the summer. The early days when her mother had also worked there alongside them before she was taken by a car crash. Even though David had been running it alone with only a couple other employees, it was still kept up and clean, even if it didn't hold the same warmth and happiness it once did.

Maria took a deep sigh and walked over to run a finger over the thin film of dust that had already begun to form on the display case up front. For some reason this feeling of suspension sent a shiver down her spine. She wanted this to be over. She wanted the shop to be filled with the smell of fresh-baked bread and pastries again, the happy tinkling of the bell as customers came in with cheery greetings.

She would give anything to have that again one day, but not while Marcello was around. Maria would not feel at peace until she knew he was out of the picture for good.

Bruno made his way to the bakery. It had been a while since he had come to this part of town, but it looked the same as he remembered, though the awning was a little faded, and there was no hustle and bustle. A quick glance around told him that this part of town seemed to be falling into the 'bad' category, probably due to Marcello's influence and others like him. There were not as many people around as there used to be, and a lot of the shops looked like they had closed or no longer had the clientele they used to.

He went to knock on the door but Maria must have seen him coming, because she met him there, opening it.

"Hello," she said quietly, stepping back to allow him inside.

"Good morning," Bruno replied with a small smile, trying to make her feel at ease. Maria looked so tired, his heart went out to her.

"Um…you wanted to see the books?" she asked before he could say anything else.

He nodded. "Please. My colleagues are already looking into information at the gambling house as well."

She nodded, biting her lip and then seemed to kick herself into gear. "Sorry, the office is back here."

Bruno vaguely remembered meeting Signore Gallo there back in the day when he was still just a runner for Polpo, but he followed Maria into the back of the strangely silent shop, and into the small office.

The books were already set out on the desk and Bruno instantly went over, bending over the desk to start flipping through them.

"This is the record of David's payment to Marcello," Maria said, reaching over and flipping a page, tapping the spot to show him."

Bruno glanced over the numbers. Maybe he wasn't exactly the best at math, but he could balance books, and he could clearly see the payment, but there was something that wasn't adding up, and it wasn't the math.

It was almost like it was…too neat.

He furrowed his brow and started to flip through the rest of the book, seeing absolutely no discrepancies for the past three months. Then when he went further he saw what he would class as a more normal record, deviations per month due to profit and supply purchase, not the same neat numbers for everything that he was seeing in the months leading up to David's death. It was more like these last three months were simply a formality. As if someone was making a lot more money and just putting a fixed amount down for each category.

"Is this the only book?" he asked Maria who had been standing off to one side.

"I…I believe so," she said. "I mean, aside from the ones from previous years. But I don't know if those would help you any."

Bruno shook his head. "No, there's just…" He glanced around and stood. "Do you mind if I look around a little?"

She shook her head, though looked a little curious. "No, go ahead."

Bruno opened desk drawers, and the filing cabinet, but still didn't find what he was looking for until he crouched down and felt under the desk, noticing something was attached to the underside.

Ah, so he had been right.

He slid the thin book from its makeshift strap and stood, showing it to Maria who looked even more confused now.

"What's that?"

Bruno sat back down at the desk. "I would assume it's David's other account book," he said grimly as he flipped through it.

And yes, there it was. Exactly what Bruno had been expecting to find in the first place.

Maria was looking over his shoulder at the numbers, shaking her head. "I don't understand. Are those gambling debts?"

"Not all of them," Bruno told her, flipping another page and tapping one of the lines. "This is a lot of consistent money. I'm afraid this confirms the suspicion I had that your brother was running drugs for Marcello and maybe others as well."

Maria let out a sharp exhale of breath. "David wouldn't…I mean…"

Bruno glanced up at her with a sad smile. "This city has the habit of making people do desperate things. He was probably feeling the pressure of his gambling debts and Marcello likely pushed him into it because of that. This seemed to have started three months ago which is around the time Marcello started to rise to power in the area."

Maria ran a hand over her pale face. "I can't believe it. I can't believe he would do something like that."

Bruno stood and tucked the book into his coat to look at again later, placing a kind hand on her shoulder. "Maria, if this is the case, then I think it might be possible your brother hid a stash somewhere before he died and that's what Marcello is trying to find."

"Oh god," Maria gasped suddenly, lip trembling. "Do you think that's why they killed him? Because he was trying to keep the money for himself?"

"We can't know for sure," Bruno told her gently. "But it would line up with everything that has happened."

She took a shuddering breath and nodded. "Okay, so, what? Do you think he hid the drugs here?"

"That seems to be what Marcello thinks," Bruno mused. "I think it would be a good idea to at least take a look."

Maria nodded and Bruno began his search around the bakery, looking through all the supplies, even checking in the sacks of flour and sugar, but everything was as advertised. He looked under and behind shelves, even using Sticky Fingers to check inside things, but unless he was missing something, there were no drug stashes here. Especially none big enough to make Marcello go through this much trouble.

"Well, the good news is that it doesn't seem like they're here at all," Bruno told Maria eventually, after checking behind the counter at the front of the store. "Unfortunately, that leaves us with the problem of actually tracking them down."

Maria sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to take up so much of your time."

"Please, don't worry about it so much," Bruno reassured her. "Marcello is going to have to deal with me eventually anyway, this just gives me more of a reason to push him back. However, I'm not sure he'll believe you searched this place for the drugs or that you would tell him the truth if you did find them, so he might not be so easy to sway."

Maria clutched her arm tightly, paling. Bruno again felt the tug in his chest, sorry she had to go through this.

"Is there anywhere else your brother might have stashed something?" he asked.

"Well…maybe his apartment," Maria suggested.

"Is that nearby?" Bruno inquired.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm living there right now. I could look around if you wanted."

Bruno nodded. "If you wish. Let me know if you need any help, or if you find anything. I have a few other things I can look into, and I'll get back to you with any relevant information." He took the account book from his coat again. "Do you mind if I hang onto this and the other one for now?"

Maria nodded. "Of course. The business isn't up and running right now anyway, as you can see. I just want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible."

Bruno nodded in agreement and went to grab the other account book as well.

"Do be careful, signorina. Let me know if Marcello tries to meet with you again. Would you like me to walk you home?"

"Oh," she stuttered slightly, but shook her head. "I was actually going to clean up in here a little before I went back. I know it's silly, but…it would make me feel better."

"Of course," Bruno said softly. "I had best be getting back to my team. I will call you later with whatever information Abbacchio and Mista uncover today."

"Thank you," Maria said quietly and Bruno reluctantly left her in that empty bakery. He didn't know why it felt so wrong to do so. So sad.

Maria watched Bucciarati go with a sudden feeling of loneliness. It was stupid, she knew, he wasn't her friend or anything, just someone who was kind enough to help her, but she hadn't really talked to anyone who was willing to help since she got back to Napoli and with everything going on…it just felt better to have someone else around.

She sighed and kicked herself into gear, needing something to occupy her turbulent thoughts. As if everything wasn't already bad enough, apparently David had also been running drugs, the one thing he had sworn never to get involved in. Maybe Marcello had forced him into it, but he had still done it. Maria just couldn't wrap her head around his reasoning. She tried to be understanding of people in bad positions, and yet, it just seemed so out of character for David.

Maybe that's why he had been killed.

She grabbed a bucket and a rag and started cleaning the dust from the counter and display cases. She would have to look through the supplies and see what might spoil and what could be saved for the tentative re-opening, who-knew-when.

She went to get a mop, when she glanced out the windows and saw a car park outside on the street. The door opened and she saw Marcello step out.

Maria's heart started pounding and she hurried to the back of the bakery rushing to the office to grab her phone from her purse, hurriedly calling Bucciarati.

"Please pick up," she whispered as she heard a knock on the door.

"Signorina! Are you in there?" Marcello called through the glass.

The phone call picked up.

"Bucciarati."

"B-Bucciarati, It's Maria," she said. "Um, Marcello is at the bakery, I don't know what he wants but…"

"Don't try to fight him," Bucciarati said quickly. "Just let him look around if he wants. I'll be there as quickly as possible."

She nodded and ended the call as the pounding grew more insistent. She took a deep breath and hurried out to the front.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Marcello's smile was not kind. He had two other men with him as well, and Maria fought to keep her legs from shaking. "You won't let us in for just a moment to talk, signorina?"

"We're not open," she said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm sure you can make an exception for the man who really owns this place," Marcello said darkly.

Maria seethed at him for a moment before she reluctantly unlocked the door, hoping Bucciarati would get there soon.

"Thank you, bella," Marcello told her with sugary sweetness.

"I thought you gave me until the end of the week to hand this place over," Maria said. "This is not the end of the week."

"I did," Marcello told her. "But I'm not here for the bakery today. I need something your brother took from me. And I'm going to get it back."