Antonio stood guard by the door to the cash count room, watching as Lovino's group opened the door to the vault.
The break-in had been executed perfectly so far, with not a single hiccup. Ivan had disconnected the outside lines before they went in, so no alarms were triggered and no security personnel were called to the scene. They had used a magnetic device to unlock the door without causing too much heavy damage to it, and now the group members were rushing in with duffle bags to load up the cash.
The Spaniard looked over to the computer, where Ivan was busy typing away at the keyboard. In addition to setting up the remote access and connecting the two USB devices to the system, the Russian also needed to complete shutting down all the security cameras before they could remove their black toques. Toris was assisting as well, having split off from the group a few minutes ago to access the server room.
Finally, Antonio glanced to his immediate left, where a masked woman was helping him guard the door to the room. Although her blonde hair was up in a bun underneath her toque, he knew it was Natalya from the way she kept glaring at him with her purple eyes.
"I'm all done up here," Toris paged on the boys' private communication channel, which Antonio was listening to through his earpiece, "Heading back down to you now."
Antonio raised his right hand to his head, mimicking a rubbing motion as his index finger pressed the button on the thumb of his glove to activate the microphone at his wrist.
"Sounds good, Toris," Antonio acknowledged, "How about you, Ivan?"
"Just a few more clicks," Ivan slowly muttered, "There we go, all done."
With that confirmation, Antonio pulled at the neck of his toque and removed it from his head. As he gave his hair a quick shake to feel the air against his head again, he noticed the alarmed looks from those around him.
"The cameras have been turned off," Antonio called out, "We can remove our toques now."
"I hope you're damn sure about that," Natalya muttered to his left as she followed suit and removed her toque.
Antonio glanced at the door to the vault, where Ludwig and Madeline were standing guard. Ludwig was slowly removing his toque, watching as his completely unmasked girlfriend passed on the news to those bagging cash in the vault. He began talking to her when she turned her attention back to him, and Antonio couldn't quite hear what they were discussing, but it appeared that Madeline was trying to reassure Ludwig that it was safe to show their faces.
A few moments later, Antonio saw Madeline move around Ludwig, as if to walk over to the door and speak to him, only for Ludwig to swiftly pull on her elbow and bring her back to him. After exchanging a few more words, Ludwig tilted her face towards his and planted his lips against hers. Antonio's eyebrow raised in curiosity, before he noticed the look from the Russian who had a front-row view of the kiss.
"Chill your quills, porcupine," Antonio quickly warned, brushing his hair back as he used the microphone again.
Ivan sent Antonio a quick glance, before returning to his work as Ludwig and Madeline ended the kiss. Relieved to see that diffuse so quickly, Antonio smirked as he glanced to his left, only for his small smile to quickly fade. Natalya's glare was bouncing back and forth between Ivan and the couple before noticing Antonio's gaze. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, Toris suddenly appeared in the doorway at her other side.
"I'm back," the Lithuanian reported, earning a startled look from Natalya, "How's everything else going?"
"It's all going swimmingly," Antonio quickly replied, "Why won't you stand guard here, while Natalya and I take watch outside?"
Before anyone could protest to his new plan, Antonio grabbed Natalya's elbow and gave her a tug. He quickly ushered her around Toris and through the doorway, into the empty hallway that connected to the rest of the bank. Allowing Natalya to go through first, Antonio gently slipped the door mostly shut behind him, and delicately pressed his index finger against his thumb in a holding position when she spun around to glare at him.
"Care to tell me what the hell that was?" Natalya demanded, "Why would my brother be so interested in Madeline and Ludwig kissing?"
"She's a criminal dating a police officer," Antonio justified, "Of course Ivan would be suspicious of what Ludwig is up to."
"Even so, why does this entire plan smell fishy?" Natalya continued, "How do I know that you aren't pulling us into a trap?"
"We are doing no such thing, Natalya, I guarantee it," Antonio swore, "We are behaving ourselves for once, so you should simply trust us."
"You expect me to just trust you, after everything you've put me and Katya through?" Natalya exclaimed, "My freedom is long gone, because of you fuckers! I can no longer leave the country, or do anything interesting with my life, and it's all thanks to you idiots and that damn bitch!"
"Believe me, Natalya, Ivan never intended for you girls to get dragged into this," Antonio defended, "As a matter of fact, there's someone else you can blame for that."
"Trying to shift the blame, are you?" Natalya noted, "Who could possibly be more responsible for this than you bastards?"
"The man who's kept your records flagged for so long," Antonio explained, "We've looked into it, you know. For other criminals, their family members are only ever expected to report on the criminal's whereabouts and activities. They are still free to live their lives however they want, go wherever they want to go, and do what they want to do. But not you two poor girls. The man is using his political power to keep your records permanently in the red. We've seen it documented a few times now, where Commissioner Edelstein has tried to clear your names, but was then told by this man to keep them flagged."
"Who is he?" Natalya urged.
"It's the same man who wants us caught and brought to justice," Antonio hinted, "The same man who would see his wife incarcerated in a mental institution. The same man that would spin the divorce proceedings so that he would take all of Mathilda's JCI shares for himself."
"You've got to be kidding me," Natalya gasped, "Arthur Kirkland?"
"Arthur fucking Kirkland," Antonio confirmed, "He's been using you all this time, in his pursuit of us."
As Natalya turned away from him for a moment, Antonio noticed the confusion on her face as she processed the information. That's when he realized he had an opening.
"You have a choice, you know," Antonio pointed out, "You could keep going the way you are, following Arthur's demands, staying within the confines of the law, and being a subservient pet for the rest of your life. As long as we are free, Arthur will keep you under his watch. Not to mention that he's already labelled you as an accomplice, and now has grounds to arrest you on the spot if he ever finds you again."
"Lots of that is your fault, you know," Natalya bluntly reminded.
"Yes, but let me finish," Antonio persisted, "You may consider us to be evil, but Arthur is his own special kind of evil. Essentially, you are choosing which evil you can really trust in this drama. You can choose to let Arthur keep having his way with your freedoms, or you can defy him and place your trust in us."
"How the fuck is putting my trust in you supposed to be a good idea?"
"You can benefit from how we take him down. Our plans for vanquishing JCI includes the destruction of many government databases, including police records. We won't just be clearing our own records, we'll be clearing everyone's records."
"You're plotting pure anarchy and chaos. They'll stop you."
"Not if we're careful about how we do it. We've been planning this for three years now, you'd be surprised how complex our master plan has become. If we succeed, not only is Mathilda a free woman, but so are you."
"What if your plans fall through? If I defy the police, and you fail in your plot, Arthur will demand my incarceration."
"I can give you the power to create your own sort of freedom," Antonio proposed, "I can arrange for Ivan to load a USB drive for you that holds the software program for creating aliases. If you follow the instructions provided with it, you can make your own fake ID, just like the ones Toris and I have. Give yourself a fake name and address, and have the government print you a genuine driver's licence with your falsified profile. You don't have to keep this to yourself either, you can make one for Katerina, for Yao, and for anyone else you like. It may not be the same luxury as using your real name, but it's better than nothing."
"That's a generous offer," Natalya remarked, "What's the catch?"
"There's no catch, you've already been dragged deep enough into this mess," Antonio assured, "Consider it a show of good faith."
"How do I know you're not buying me out?" Natalya claimed, "For all I know, you could be selling this as a prepaid compensation for the next time you misbehave."
"Well, that's impossible to guarantee," Antonio reasoned, "You know we plan to misbehave, and we'll do what we can to keep you out of harm's way. That's all I can promise you, querida."
Natalya glared suspiciously at him, before giving a huff and offering her hand to be shaken.
"It's a deal," she agreed, "When can it be ready, and how will you get it to me?"
"Ivan can start working on it tomorrow, it should only take a day or two," Antonio promised as he shook her hand, "We can arrange for Madeline to help deliver it when it's done."
Antonio went to drop the handshake, but his wrist was swiftly grabbed by Natalya.
"Do not consider this as grounds to manipulate us any further," she warned, "I will be watching your every move."
Antonio only nodded in reply as Natalya dropped her grip and pulled away. She then went around Antonio to push the door back open and rejoin the others.
Antonio slowly followed her back in, giving Toris a nod as he resumed his position of guarding the door. Natalya had gone further in to join Ludwig by the vault door, while Madeline was standing by Ivan and watching him work on the computer.
"Nicely played, Tonio," a woman's voice paged on their private radio channel, "I doubt I could've done that better myself."
"Gracias, gatina," Antonio replied, "It appears your future sister-in-law can be reasoned with after all."