Chapter Five
"So we get to go on a beach road trip?"
Bruno cast a look of warning at Narancia. "This isn't a holiday, Narancia, we're still trying to find where Marcello is hiding and make sure he doesn't get to the drugs before we do. Luckily I don't think he knows about the beach house Maria's family owns."
"We'll continue the search here while you're gone," Giorno assured him and Maria. "He can't hide forever."
Maria nodded.
"Be careful," Trish told them, hugging Maria before waving to the others.
Bruno, Maria, Narancia and Abbacchio headed out to the car.
"Are you sure it's wise to bring her with us?" Abbacchio asked quietly, leaning in toward Bruno. "I can use Moody Blues easily enough."
Bruno pressed his lips together firmly. "I would rather her stay too, but there might be places we won't be able to find or wouldn't think to look. She'll be safe with us."
Abbacchio nodded and the two hurried to get into the front of the car before Bruno drove them off to the coast.
The smell of the sea air was heavenly, and the sun was shining, instantly putting him into a better mood than usual, the feeling of bittersweet memories returning like they always did when he went back to the ocean.
"Aw, man," Narancia moaned. "Someday we have to come out here for fun, Bucciarati."
Bruno smiled into the rearview mirror. "When we get the chance to take some time off, Narancia. I think that would be a fantastic idea."
"You're more than welcome to come out to our beach house," Maria piped up. "It's a little small, but it's right on the beach in a really nice and secluded place."
"That would be wonderful," Bruno said almost without thinking. Abbacchio gave him a look which he returned with a glower, before the goth smirked and pushed his sunglasses higher up his nose.
Maria's beach house actually wasn't that far from the small fishing village he had grown up in. Just coming back here made the nostalgia rise up in his stomach, feeling like he was on the sea, slightly turbulent, but pleasant at the same time.
"It's that one right ahead," Maria said, leaning forward to point past him. "The yellow one."
Bruno spotted the quaint little house just off the road ahead and pulled the car into the lot. Everyone got out and Maria breathed a sigh of content, obviously enjoying the sea air as much as Bruno did.
But there was no time for pleasantries right now. They had work to do.
"Narancia," he said. "I want you out here, keeping watch with Aerosmith."
Narancia saluted. "Will do!"
"The rest of us will search inside, or wherever you think we should look," Bruno said, turning to Maria with a slightly raised eyebrow.
She glanced around, between the house and a small shed out back. "Let's check the house first. It's probably more likely he hid them there away from prying eyes."
Bruno nodded and the two of them followed Maria to the house, which she unlocked.
"Maria, do you remember exactly when your brother came here last?" Abbacchio asked.
"Well… at least a month ago now I believe, he didn't say exactly when," Maria replied.
"As long as he was the last one here, it won't be a problem," Abbacchio said and called out Moody Blues, starting to search for David's replay.
Bruno glanced at Maria and saw her watching Abbacchio with an odd look, so he caught her attention. "Let's let Abbacchio search out here. You and I can look through the rest of the house."
It wasn't big but it had the sense of being lived in, a familiar, comfortable vacation home with bright colors and pictures on the walls. Bruno found himself drawn to them during his search, glancing at the happy family photos. The unmistakable childhood pictures of Maria and the boy who must have been David and their father, who Bruno recognized from the few times they had met before. They all looked so happy. Something tugged at Bruno's chest, wishing so many families didn't have to end up the way Maria's had. That they could simply have a happy childhood and grow up to give another happy childhood to their own children. The fact that so many times that wasn't possible in this city again renewed his resolve to change things for the better.
Abbacchio was following around a copy of David, who's movements seemed more melancholy than erratic. Bruno frowned. He really hoped this came to something. They were running out of places to look.
After a while, they took a break for food, setting up a small picnic out on the sand.
"I didn't see—" Abbacchio started and then stopped. "I couldn't find any evidence of your brother hiding anything," he told Maria.
"I still don't understand how you can tell," she said quietly.
"Abbacchio is very good at reading evidence," Bruno told her.
"Like you're very good at getting into things, even apparently walls?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Bruno opened his mouth but had nothing to reply to that. Abbacchio snorted and Narancia laughed.
"I know they talk about Passione, that some of the members have special abilities," Maria said. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, or if it's some kind of secret, but it's obvious to me you're not just normal men."
Bruno and Abbacchio shared a look before Narancia turned to them pleadingly. "Come on, can't you tell her? She's been staying with us after all."
Bruno returned his gaze to Maria, seeing the earnestness in her green eyes and feeling compelled to tell the truth. "They're called Stands," he told her. "They're sort of a…manifestation of the soul, the fighting spirit. Only other Stand users can see them, so I would imagine it looks a little strange to you when we use them. Mine is called Sticky Fingers, he has the ability to unzip things."
"Like as in a zipper?" Maria asked.
"Yeah, huge zippers!" Narancia chimed in. "They can open this sort of pocket dimension but none of us really know what it is or where it goes. He can even zip people's limbs and heads off without killing them!"
"Narancia," Bruno cut in as Maria's eyes went wide with horror.
"Mine's called Aerosmith," the boy continued. "It looks like a plane, but I can use to it to see carbon dioxide signatures to tell if someone is around."
"Oh," Maria said and looked at Abbacchio. "What about yours?"
He snorted slightly. "Well, I'm not just walking around aimlessly like it probably looks like to you. Moody Blues has the ability to play back people's actions. I was looking to see if I could spot your brother hiding the drugs, but so far, I have not been able to do that."
"Wow," Maria breathed. "I never would have thought…"
"Since you can't see the Stands, maybe when we get back, I can draw pictures of them for you," Narancia told Maria with a grin. "Then at least you can imagine what's going on."
Maria smiled. "I'd like that. I think I would really like to see what all of your Stands look like." She glanced at Bruno when she said this though and he had the inane urge to blush slightly. It was probably just the sun, though. Or…well, no the sun was currently being covered by clouds that actually looked a bit like rain. Bruno frowned up at them, figuring they had about three hours at most before anything started.
"We should check the shed next," he suggested quickly. "Since it looks like rain."
Everyone else looked up, which allowed him to get a handle of himself and turned to start cleaning up their picnic stuff.
"That's probably a good idea," Maria agreed, and Bruno noticed that she was also blushing slightly. Bruno refrained from sighing. He really wished Abbacchio hadn't said anything to him, but…maybe it wouldn't have mattered anyway. He wasn't exactly unaffected himself, apparently.
And wasn't that a terrible idea?
He got up almost forcibly, taking the lunch bags back to the car to throw away later before they began their search again.
Thunder rumbled in the distance and the afternoon wore on as they still found nothing.
"I don't understand," Maria sighed in frustration. "I was so sure he would have hidden them here."
"It's possible he could have just disposed of them," Bruno commented. "Though there really isn't any evidence of that either."
"Even if he did, it's not going to stop Marcello from looking for the stash," Abbacchio grunted. "Which is really the more pressing issue we have."
Narancia hurried inside the house when the rain started to fall just as Bruno predicted. He sighed as he shook the water out of his hair. "Any luck?" he asked, Aerosmith's radar still hovering over one eye.
"No," Bruno replied. "We've checked just about everything." He'd even checked under the floorboards with Sticky Fingers but there was no sign of any tampering or hideaways.
Maria sank down on the couch—which they had also thoroughly searched—with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, I thought this was a good idea but I feel like all we've done is waste time."
"I wouldn't say that, now we know for sure the drugs aren't here," Bruno replied. "Unless he buried them somewhere outside."
Abbacchio shook his head. "I went through the replay of his time here twice just to make sure I didn't miss anything. He didn't bury anything. And there's no other recordings here from earlier than two years ago aside from a couple maintenance people."
Bruno tapped his chin with a finger, brow creased as he tried to think. "Let's check everything one last time to make sure we didn't miss it."
"You don't think Marcello made it here before us, do you? And that's why he's been quiet the last few days?" Maria asked tentatively.
"It would be unlikely," Bruno replied. "This place would be tossed if he had been here. I think he's in hiding because I spooked him that day in the bakery. He didn't realize he was going to have to deal with Passione and he knows he'd not ready to do that."
"Yeah, if you want my opinion, I think he's trying to lay low to attempt to get the bakery off of you one last time, and if it doesn't work out for him, he'll probably try something more desperate," Abbacchio said grimly. "That's how his kind usually work. He's willing to wait to avoid trouble he knows he can't handle, but that's only going to last for so long."
Maria's hands twisted together nervously. "Is he…a Stand user as well?"
"He is, and so is his second," Bruno told her truthfully. "But they're certainly not the worst we've handled."
"As far as we know," Abbacchio muttered.
"Hey guys," Narancia had been standing by the window, still keeping watch when he suddenly turned around, a hand held up by the radar over his eye. "Someone's coming."
The second he said this, headlights flashed through the dim light of the rainy evening, spearing through the window of the small house.
"Lights off," Bruno commanded, as they all scrambled to turn the lights off, him and Abbacchio using their Stands to help.
"Oh god," Maria breathed. "You don't think…"
Bruno crept toward the window with Sticky Fingers at his back, glancing between the curtains as figures started to get out of the car. He instantly recognized the bulk of the figure giving orders.
"It's Marcello's second, and three other men," he replied grimly as he and Abbacchio moved to stand with Maria between them.
"You want me to take them out?" Narancia asked.
"Not yet," Bruno replied, thinking fast. "Our car is on the other side, they may not have seen it yet. Our main concern is getting Maria out of here before things get ugly."
"They'll be able to follow the car," Abbacchio reminded him. "What if you hang back with Maria and Narancia and I take the car to distract them and double back for you?"
"Unless they just let us go and decide to continue with the search here," Bruno murmured.
"Well, we need to hurry up because they're almost here!" Narancia hissed, keeping a close eye on Aerosmith's radar.
Bruno calculated quickly but… "There's a place we can go that's not too far away. I'll take Maria there. It will be safe until you shake them. Just give us a distraction so we can get out."
Abbacchio nodded and Narancia saluted.
"I'm on the distraction, just give me the word," the teen said.
Bruno nodded back and put an arm around Maria's shoulders, urging her toward the back of the house. "You take the back door, we'll run once they're distracted. Abbacchio, I'll send you the address once we're out of here."
Abbacchio shook his head. "It's fine. I think I know where you're heading. Be careful."
"We will," Bruno assured him, glancing at Maria who was trembling under his touch. He reached down and grabbed her hand instead, giving it a squeeze. "Everything will be all right, cara," he told her softly.
"We need to go!" Narancia said and he and Abbacchio raced for the back of the house. The sound of rapid gunfire began outside, accompanied by surprised shouts as Narancia let off a volley with Aerosmith.
Bruno and Maria waited on the other side of the house and when they heard Marcello's men running in the opposite direction to chase Abbacchio and Narancia, Bruno used Sticky Fingers to open the wall. Maria's eyes widened, and Bruno tugged her through, closing it up behind him.
"We're going to have to run," he told her.
She didn't hesitate as they sprinted across the beach and down the road. The rain was still coming down and it pelted them, soaking through their clothes instantly, making their hands slippery where they still held on to each other but Maria's grip didn't loosen, hanging onto Bruno for dear life. They cut through other people's yards, trying to stay out of the line of sight of anyone from the road, and all the while the streets began to look more and more familiar. Bruno raced past an old corner store and darted down a side road where there was a plethora of small cottages, splashing through puddles on cobbled streets that would undoubtedly ruin his expensive leather shoes.
Seeing the place again was like everything hit him at once. It had been a couple years now since he had been back, no time to do so with how busy he was. But he couldn't think of that right now, he had to get Maria somewhere safe and dry.
They finally slowed their pace, stopping, panting, at the door. Bruno could have used Sticky Fingers, but instead he bent to find the key hidden under a plant pot, and inserted it into the lock.
"Come on, there should be something dry to wear inside," Bruno told her, slipping in after her into the dark house.
Maria looked around once they got in, both of them dripping on the floor. Bruno kicked his sopping shoes off, wincing at the blisters that had already formed as he started looking around for what they would need.
"Don't turn any lights on," he told her. "I doubt they'll find us here, but there's no point in attracting attention. This place has been empty for a while and word travels fast around here."
He left Maria standing by the door, as he sought several lanterns, digging some matches out of a drawer and lighting them. He placed them around the main area that contained the small living room and off it, the kitchen, before he took one with him toward the back of the house.
"Come on," he beckoned to Maria. "Let's find some dry clothes."
Maria followed him as he grabbed several towels from a hall closet, handing one to her before he continued toward the bedrooms.
He took a deep breath before he stepped inside, memories hitting him like a freight train.
Nothing had really changed since the last time he had been there, but it was both comforting and difficult to be standing here now, especially when he was on a mission, had to be focused.
"Bucciarati?" Maria's voice cut into his thoughts. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head and kicked himself back into gear, heading to the armoire, which he rifled through, finding one of his old sweaters and a pair of pants that should fit Maria well enough. None of his old things would fit him anymore, but…
"Here," he told her, handing her the things. "Bathroom is the next room over. You can just hang your clothes over the tub for now."
Maria nodded and headed to do just that.
Bruno let out a sigh as he headed down the hall to the other bedroom, reaching for the door. He hesitated, but the constant drip of his hair and the way his suit stuck to him forced him on. They were just old things, after all. They couldn't really hurt him.
Of course, memories could always hurt. He couldn't deny that.
The room still smelled like his father. Salt, coffee, and just a little like fish, but not in an unpleasant way—at least not for a fisherman. Bruno forced himself to the closet and pulled out a pair of worn out trousers and a bulky sweater. He held them close and found himself sinking onto the edge of the bed, burying his face in the sweater for a brief moment as he tried to get a handle on his emotions.
He couldn't afford to break down right now. He knew he'd had little choice in safe-houses on short notice, but at the same time, he really wished he could have ended up anywhere else tonight.
Thunder crashed, illuminating the walls from the lightning through the small window as Maria peeled herself out of her wet clothes and dried off before pulling on the clothes Bucciarati had given her.
The sweater was warm and a little long in the sleeves, but it didn't stop her from shaking. She didn't think it was all from the cold either. Everything was just…too much.
She grabbed the lantern and hurried back out to the main room, trying to be useful and look for blankets, but her hands were still shaking uncontrollably, and she nearly dropped the lantern, the flame wobbling dangerously.
A hand came down to gently take it from her and Maria whipped her head up to look at Bucciarati.
"Careful," he told her quietly. "There's some blankets in the trunk behind the couch if you're cold. I'll make some tea. I think there might still be some in the kitchen."
She nodded and hurried to find the blankets, hoping those might help her shivering as Bruno headed toward the kitchen and pulled out a hotplate and kettle.
Maria wrapped one of the blankets around herself and settled onto the couch, listening to the rain and thunder outside. The wind was picking up too, the storm seeming only to get worse rather than better.
She started as Bruno came back, handing her a mug of steaming liquid.
"Don't worry, this place will withstand the wind. It's been through a lot of squalls."
And that was when it finally clicked in Maria's head. "This is your place, isn't it?"
Bruno sat down and accepted the blanket she handed him, folding it over his lap as he stared down at his tea. There was something sad and distant in his eyes. Eyes that were usually so blue, but now looked as stormy as the ocean outside. "It was. My childhood home."
Maria bit her lip, looking down at the sweater she was wearing and realized this must have been Bucciarati's at one point. The thought made her cheeks warm, and she sipped her tea, still shivering.
"Are you still that cold?" Bucciarati asked her with concern, reaching out and taking one hand in his, rubbing her fingers. "You are." Within a second, he shifted even closer to her on the couch and folded the other half of his own blanket over her legs. Maria stiffened, not wanting to presume too much. Bucciarati looked way too approachable at the moment dressed in a fisherman's sweater with his hair down, and wet, hanging in strands against his face.
"I'm sorry," she whispered without knowing why.
He glanced over at her. "Why would you be sorry?"
"Because I dragged us all the way out here for nothing," she said.
"It was a good idea to look at the beach house; now we know."
"But we were almost caught again," Maria protested.
"I told you I would keep you safe," he replied softly, and that did something inside of her, a sickly, pleasant twist that made her blurt out what she was feeling.
"I want you to be safe too!" she said too loudly.
Bucciarati looked slightly taken aback, staring at her. "Maria, my life is constantly full of danger. Has been for…a long time. I'm used to it by now."
"I just…I don't want to be responsible for any more scars like…like the ones you have," she said, blushing furiously now as she remembered the brief glimpses she had seen of Bucciarati's scars.
Bruno sighed and looked away. "It was a choice I made. I don't regret it, I can't."
Maria was silent for a long time, fearing she had said too much. "How…how did you join Passione? I mean, I just didn't think it was really common for fishermen's sons to do that?"
Bucciarati's jaw tightened and he looked away. For a moment Maria feared she had crossed some boundary, but he finally said, "My father…was beaten almost to death because he saw a drug deal go down. He never… he never recovered fully, just…faded away." He took a deep breath and Maria instinctively reached out and reclaimed his hand, surprised when he didn't pull away. "I had to kill the men who did it. They were going to murder my father in his hospital room. And after that I had no choice. I had to join Passione for protection, and it also allowed me to pay the hospital bills. But I swore then that I would change this city, make sure things like that didn't happen anymore." He shook his head. "It's not as easy as it sounds; human corruption runs deep and it's a tangled web. But we're trying."
Maria's heart clenched in her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him again, rubbing her thumb across his knuckles. He returned the gesture with a little squeeze.
"It must be hard for you to come back here," she said quietly in sudden realization. It had been hard enough for her to go back to her own family home and bakery with everything that had happened.
Bucciarati sighed and slumped, his arm now pressing against hers. "It is a little, because I miss my father. But…none of the memories here are particularly bad so, in a way it just makes me feel closer to him." He set his tea down and played with the fraying hem of the sweater he was wearing. "Sometimes I think about what would have happened if he was still alive, if I hadn't joined Passione. How nice it would be to just go out on the sea every day with him, sell fish in the market. It's a simple life, but a good one."
"That sounds nice," Maria commented.
"Yes. But it wouldn't have changed anything about the city; crime would only get worse, and…I also think about how probably most of my team would be dead or worse if I hadn't been there to take them in. Sometimes things happen for a reason, maybe because of the red thread of fate that ties us all together. It at least gives me a purpose, even if it doesn't make me miss my father any less."
His head dipped slightly, hand clenching in his sweater. His hair slipped across his cheek hiding his eyes. Maria's hand was moving before she could stop herself, carefully brushing the dark strands behind his ear, revealing his sharp cheekbone and the angle of his jaw. It was a split-second decision of not thinking that had her leaning forward and pressing her lips to the tanned skin.
Bucciarati's breath hitched in surprise and Maria hurriedly pulled away, mortified at her boldness, tugging her hand out of his.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, flaming. "I didn't mean anything…I just…"
"Shh."
Bucciarati was turning toward her, his hand coming up to cup her cheek, meeting her eyes briefly before he carefully leaned in and, almost hesitantly, pressed his lips against hers.
Maria froze, hot and cold at the same time, instinctively reaching out to latch onto Bucciarati's sweater to keep herself upright. His lips were so soft, tasting of rain and tea, and even though the kiss had been delicate, testing, she was reeling by the time he pulled back several inches to meet her eyes.
"Bu-Bucciarati," she whispered.
A small smile flickered over his lips. "You can call me Bruno, you know," he replied.
"Bruno," she managed to get out.
Then he was pulling her closer, one arm wrapping around her as his other hand continued to caress her cheek, leaning in for another kiss. This time he deepened it, more sure of the situation and Maria followed gladly, falling into his earnest touch and the feeling of his mouth against hers.
When they finally pulled apart, Maria blinked slowly, finding herself caught in Bucciarati's—Bruno's—eyes.
And then he pulled away, a flush creeping up his neck to his cheeks. "I'm sorry, that was rather unprofessional of me."
"I didn't really mind," Maria assured him teasingly also sure she was bright red.
Bucciarati glanced back at her, an eyebrow raised, a small smile also curling up one side of his mouth. "No?" He was leaning closer again, causing Maria's breath to hitch. He reached out to push her damp hair away from her face as she shook her head. "Well then, I suppose in that case…"
Maria sank into him, melting against his chest as their lips met again. After a second, Bruno's tongue teased against her mouth and she allowed him deeper, letting out a small sound of pleasure as Bruno continued to kiss her thoroughly.
He leaned back on the couch after they finally pulled away, carefully positioning the blankets around them both as he pulled Maria in close against his side until they were cocooned in cozy warmth, arms wrapped around each other as the rain continued outside, sharing kisses every once in a while.
Bruno's fingers stroked gently down her spine as he rested his cheek against her damp hair.
"Everything will be all right," he whispered to her, pressing his lips to her forehead.
And in that moment, wrapped up in the warmth of this man she had somehow, against her better judgement, fallen for, she truly believed that for the first time in a long while.