After pulling into a parking spot, the man shut off the motorcycle and got off it. After setting it to stay where it was, he removed his helmet as he swiftly marched to the main entrance of the artsy apartment building, a few neighbourhoods over from the cafe. His anger hadn't subsided at all during his ride, so when he reached the door, he spotted the button for suite 318 and began repeatedly hitting it.
Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz
Finally, it was answered.
"Hello, who is it?" the occupant greeted over the intercom.
"It's Lovino," he declared, "Let me in, Maddie, we need to talk."
Madeline did not speak another word as another buzzer sounded, accompanied by a click that unlocked the door. Lovino immediately grabbed the handle and swung the door open, strode through the lobby, stopped at the elevator door, and started repeatedly hitting the button to summon it. Lovino shook his head as he noticed his impatience, yet another sign of the anger bursting out to the surface.
The doors finally opened up, and Lovino rolled his eyes and stepped back as a hipster couple emerged from within. They gave him a concerning look as they walked by, but Lovino ignored it in favour of getting onto the elevator, selecting the third floor, and hitting the close button to shut the doors. As the elevator began to move, Lovino's mind raced with all the things he needed to talk to Madeline about, along with noticing that his foot was now tapping the ground incessantly.
The elevator stopped moving, and the doors opened to reveal the third floor hallway. Lovino marched down the hallway, stopping near the end at a door numbered 318 before knocking on it repeatedly, not stopping until it was opened by the woman on the other side.
Madeline didn't say a word as she pulled the door all the way open, silently allowing Lovino to enter the suite. He went to the far side of the kitchen counter, sat on a barstool, and glared at the blonde as she closed the door and followed him into the kitchen
"You might as well start talking," Madeline suggested, choosing to stand opposite him at the other side of the counter, "Your fury is more than obvious."
"Well, no shit, Sherlock," Lovino snarled back, "Perhaps the arrest was an understandable setback, but having Antonio fucking Esposito bail you girls out of jail is straight-out treason!"
"Katya's the only one at the cafe who might have been able to pay our bails without also getting arrested on the spot," Madeline justified, "I took a chance on someone they might not be watching for."
"You took a chance on a group of fucking traitors!" Lovino rampaged, "Antonio fucking betrayed us, Madeline! He drugged me and Feli, he killed Gupta, and he gave the police the location of the Vargas base! How long have you been in contact with Antonio behind our backs?"
"I had always been neutral, and you weren't even back in the picture yet to start with," Madeline defended, "I bumped into him back in January, we caught up and exchanged information. I even worked a couple side jobs with him, Ivan and Toris to help bring in some cash. Today was the first time I've had to see any of those boys in person since I started working at the cafe. And before you ask, I have not done any work for them since the spring."
"And what about the forged bail paperwork Natalya told me about?" Lovino asked, "Do you know anything about that?"
"All I know is that I got released with no harm done," Madeline claimed, "I cannot verify how they managed to post my bail in the first place."
Lovino took a deep breath and processed what Madeline said. Despite his frustration, he could see that Madeline had a valid explanation for everything he drilled her about, and that he might be able to let her off the hook a bit.
Before he could say anything though, someone knocked at the door.
"Madeline, open up," a deep manly voice projected through the cracks, and Lovino noticed Madeline's face suddenly shift into alarm mode, "Your neighbour told me you're here, we need to talk."
"Just a second, I'll be right there," Madeline called back, before turning to quietly hiss at Lovino, "Hide in the bedroom, he can't know you're here!"
"Who's at the door, Madeline?" Lovino demanded as she circled the counter and grabbed his arm, "Why are you trying to hide me?"
"Shut up and be quiet," Madeline hissed, fretting at the continued heavy knocking at the front door, "I'll explain after I've convinced him to leave."
Madeline pulled Lovino towards the bedroom, and shoved him in before closing the door. After Lovino steadied himself to avoid falling onto her bed, he approached the door and gently opened it an inch, allowing him to see Madeline letting a tall muscular blond into the suite. Much like Lovino had done a few minutes earlier, the man stormed into the room, circled the counter, and sat on the barstool.
"What's wrong, Ludwig?" Madeline asked with concern as she followed him into the kitchen, "You look upset."
"Of course I'm upset, Madeline," Lovino heard Ludwig bark, "My girlfriend got herself arrested, for fuck's sake!"
"Girlfriend?" Lovino muttered to himself. Madeline had mentioned around the cafe that she was dating someone, was this the guy?
"It's not as bad as it sounds, Luddy," Madeline assured, "It was just a careless motor vehicle accident."
"Don't pull that bullshit on me," Ludwig scolded, "I was there in the middle of the pursuit, Maddie! My brother arrested you, god damn it! Not to mention that you almost killed him!"
Lovino frowned. Was Maddie's boyfriend one of the officers involved in that chase last night? And who was this brother of his that arrested Maddie?
"It was not my intention to kill your brother, Ludwig," Madeline defended, "I merely wanted to get him off my tail."
"How the fuck am I supposed to introduce you to him now?" Ludwig berated, "Gilbert's been wanting to meet you since we started dating, now he'll arrest you on the spot if that ever happens! Not to mention what will become of me when he discovers how I'm connected to you!"
Lovino's jaw dropped at that. Was Sergeant Gilbert Bielschmidt this scumbag's brother?
Having heard enough, Lovino immediately pulled open the bedroom door and emerged from his hiding spot. Madeline merely sighed and looked skyward as he approached, while her visitor looked at him like Lovino had broken into the place.
"Who the fuck are you?" Ludwig asked, "What were you doing in her bedroom?"
"What a coincidence, I was wondering exactly who you are too," Lovino pointed out, "I'm one of Madeline's friends, and I have a few concerns over what I've just heard from you. First of all, are you this mysterious boyfriend of Maddie's?"
"Yes, I am," Ludwig answered, "And you are?"
"Secondly, are you a police officer?" Lovino continued without answering back.
"Yes, I am a Sergeant for the local police department," Ludwig replied, "Aren't you going to tell me who you are?"
"One more question," Lovino kept going, "Are you related in any way to that albino bastard Gilbert Bielschmidt?"
"He is my older brother," Ludwig revealed, before turning back to Madeline, "Madeline, who the hell is he?"
"How rude of me, let me introduce myself," Lovino took over again, "My name is Lovino Vargas, your brother arrested me once last year."
"Vargas?" Ludwig repeated, "You don't mean, as in -"
"As in Romulus Vargas, my grandfather?" Lovino finished off for him, "Or as in the Vargas mob, which was shut down by your brother last year? Or as in the Vargas twins, who are still fugitives of the law? If that's what you mean, then abso-fucking-lutely yes, that Vargas."
"And why are you here in my girlfriend's apartment?" Ludwig demanded.
"Your girlfriend is a full-on criminal hired gun," Lovino replied, "Before the mobs were busted last year, she sold them her services as a neutral freelancer. Now that there's nobody else left, she works with me."
"Maddie, please tell me he's lying," Ludwig pleaded, "You're not really a mobster, are you?"
"I am, Ludwig," Madeline calmly replied, "I am a formerly-neutral freelance hired gun."
"A hired gun that is also dating a police officer, no less," Lovino added before turning to chide the woman, "How the fuck are you pulling this off, Maddie?"
"Why does it matter?" Madeline countered, "Can I not date who I want to date?"
"Not when your date's brother is that albino copper!" Lovino reprimanded, "One false move by you with his little brother, and Gilbert Bielschmidt will find the rest of us! You're going to ruin us all with this, Maddie!"
"I will not be that careless, Lovino," Madeline swore, "I have everything under control - Ludwig, who are you calling?"
Lovino spun to see that Ludwig had left his seat, and was standing a little further away, raising a cellphone to his ear. Before Ludwig could answer her, Lovino reached into his jacket, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at the officer.
"Hang up the call, and hand the phone over," Lovino sternly ordered, "Don't make me kill you."
After a brief moment of the two men glaring at each other, Ludwig lowered the phone and pressed a button, before handing it over.
"Consider yourself lucky I'm not armed right now," Ludwig warned, "If I were on duty, I could arrest you on the spot."
"But you sure tried to have that happen anyways, didn't you," Lovino remarked as he looked at the information on the cellphone screen, "Is it your gut instinct to call your big brother, when you have two criminals in the same room as you? It's so clear what control Madeline really has over this bullshit."
"Lovino, put away the gun," Madeline requested, "Let's talk this through."
"I'm the only one allowed to talk right now, and here is what is going to happen next," Lovino demanded, still pointing the gun at Ludwig and staring at him, "The two of you are going to immediately end your relationship, Ludwig, and you are going to walk out of this building. You are not going to tell a soul that you ever met either of us, you will not say how to find us, and you will not turn us in. If anyone asks about your relationship with Madeline, you will only say that the two of you fell apart and couldn't make it work. If you betray us, or if you refuse these terms, I will hunt you down and put a bullet in your head. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
"Crystal clear," Ludwig confirmed, staying put where he stood.
"Then why aren't you leaving?" Lovino demanded.
"I don't want to break up with Madeline," Ludwig declared, "I - I love her."
"You love her?" Lovino repeated incredulously, "You just found out that your girlfriend is a criminal, and that your brother will arrest her on the spot if they ever meet, and you still love her?"
"Yes, I do," Ludwig stuttered.
Lovino raised his eyebrow at the proclamation, but his frown still dominated his face. He turned to look back at Madeline, keeping the gun pointed at Ludwig, and observed that she was possibly more surprised than anyone.
"You had no idea he likes you this much, did you?" Lovino calmly checked.
"Not a clue," Madeline denied, shaking her head.
"Dio mio, how did I become so sentimental," Lovino huffed as he rolled his eyes skyward, before looking back at Ludwig and lowering the gun, "It looks like we need a new plan of action, if you intend to remain so head over heels for Madeline. I will allow you to continue dating her, under the condition that you work for us as a double agent. You do not tell the police anything about us, and you keep them off our tails. If we're working on a heist while you're working, you'll sabotage their efforts as carefully as you can. If you're not working, I expect you to at least volunteer to help us. If the police ever arrest you, you will not tell them anything about us. When and if you break up with Madeline, the previous rules apply: you get out of her life, and don't say a fucking word to anyone. Once again, if you betray us, I will put a bullet in your head. Does that all work for you?"
After a moment of thought, Ludwig nodded.
"Yes, I can abide by that."
"Good, then welcome to the Vargas gang," Lovino acknowledged as he turned to leave, "Madeline, give him some orientation to the job, I'll warn the others that we have a copper working for us."
Lovino spun on his heels and marched for the front door, smirking at the stunned silence behind him. Without having to turn back and say anything else, he swiftly pulled open the door and entered the empty hallway, hearing some chattering start up on the other side as soon as he shut the door behind him.
As he calmly strode back to the elevator, Lovino ran through what had happened in his mind. While it had been harder to recruit police officers to cooperate with mobs in this town, he had heard of examples from around the world where there was an enormous benefit to the arrangement. Secrecy and confidentiality will be major concerns, but Ludwig seemed trustworthy enough at a first meeting.
As Lovino hit the elevator button, though, he frowned in confusion as he realized what had not been witnessed in the situation Perhaps she was hesitant to reply, or too shocked to properly do it, but the question remained.
Did Madeline ever properly respond to that declaration of love?