CHAPTER 6

Alice raised an eyebrow. "You certainly know how to make a woman swoon." Her voice only shook a little. "And behind me?"

"The whole bell tower is-a soaked in-a holy water, ragazza. They won't-a get you-a in-a here."

Alice tried not to look excited as she passed through the doorway and felt an enormous weight lift from her body. "You picked one hell of a spot," Alice sunk into the chair across from him.

"Sì." Lovino smirked at her. He was wearing a pressed, expensive suit, as usual. He may have been a mass murderer, but at least he did it in style. "Did you enjoy it, witch?"

Alice only glared at him. Cocky bastard. "How's your brother?" She'd met Feliciano and Ludwig when she had played for some rich aristocrats in Sicily. A shooting broke out in the town, a Mafia gunfight. Alice didn't know that Feliciano and Ludwig were part of the Mafia and ended up saving them, taking a few bullets for them.

Lovino's face turned sour. "That idiota is getting married to-a that potato bastardo."

"Tell them they have my complimenti," Alice smirked a little, knowing how much Lovino hated his brother's German boyfriend. "And you have my condoglianze."

"Sì, Sì." Lovino waved her off, growling slightly.

Alice saw a ring glint on his finger. A giant diamond that she was pretty sure that not even Lovino could afford. It looked like a wedding ring, and it certainly would explain the recent spike in bank robbing all over Europe. "When did that happen?"

"Last month," Lovino shrugged. "Mio fratello wanted us to get married together, but I said no way in hell. Turns out-the Pope is a fairly-a reasonable man-a... When faced with a gun."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "And your husband didn't care?" Captain Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, a sky pirate well-known throughout all of Europe.

Or, as Alice liked to call him, Captain Dickweed.

They met when Alice had still been traveling with her orchestra and they were playing for the king and queen of Scandinavia. There had been a ball going on and the Spanish idiot crashed in with his bloody pirates and ruined the damn thing. Needless to say, she didn't get her paycheck.

And for some reason, cruel Fate made sure they met time and time again, until Alice had left the orchestra. She wasn't unfamiliar with going into battle with him, using either sword or gun or even a chicken leg.

"No," Lovino shrugged. "The damn-a bastardo was-a just-a happy to get hitched. Cried tears-a of joy and-a everything."

"I would've loved to see that, Mr. Carriedo." Alice snorted, imagining Antonio crying like a baby.

Lovino scowled at her. "What makes you think I took-a his name-a, ragazza idiota?"

She shrugged, hiding a sly grin. "Just a guess."

The Mafia boss huffed, "What the-a crapolla did you-a call me-a for, anyway-a?"

"This." Alice reached into her bag, "It was found in Isabelle Blackwater's room." She didn't need to say anymore. Lovino had been keeping tabs on her ever since they had met and he knew what she did for a living.

"Che cazzo?!" Lovino hissed, anger twisting his face. "I'm-a gonna kill that-a bastardo when I find him."

"You know who it is?"

Lovino shook his head, still seething. "But when I do, ragazza-" He stopped for a moment, counting to ten. His honey-amber eyes glared up at her and his grin was feral. "I'll-a make him pay. Dearly."

Alice knew what the dagger could have done to Lovino and his Mafia.

If it had been in the hands of the wrong detective, tracing the dagger's connection to Feliciano would have been easy. Feliciano was marked in the International Criminal Library. He'd been caught years ago in Africa and once they'd figured out that he was part of the Vargas family, he'd been marked with a tracker chip.

Lovino stormed through the entire continent to find his brother.

But the chip was irremovable.

If they tried to remove it, it would self-destruct and kill Feliciano. The younger Vargas twin had been captured with one of those knives (They were part of a grand set that was reserved for only Lovino's most trusted peoples) and they could easily activate the self-destruct option in the chip once they found out. The reason why Feliciano wasn't dead yet was because Lovino had scoured the Earth and destroyed every one of the controllers that could set off the chip in Feliciano.

However, a new one could easily be made and then that would be the end of the sweet, oblivious Italian.

"Here," Alice gave him the pictures of Michael and Lilly. "These two were the prime suspects, but..."

"No." Lovino barely glanced at the pictures. "These aren't my-a mine."

"Are you sure?"

"I never forget a face, Alice." His eyes settled on hers. He was being completely serious.

Alice nodded, she didn't really think that Michael and Lilly were the killers, anyway. "I need a list of all the people in Britain with those kinds of knives."

"Sì," Lovino handed her the bagged knife and pictures again. "Ho bisogno di una carta e penna." Alice gave him her pen and notepad. He scribbled on the paper, furiously.

"Grazie, Lovino." Alice took the paper. "Kiku Honda, Elizaveta Hedervary, and Vash Zwingli?"

Lovino stood. "Kiku's a quiet guy with weird fan-girl tendencies, but he's one of the few people I would-a trust my-a fratello idiota. Lizzy's a lot like him, but I'd suggest not making her angry. And-a watch for her frying pan."

"Frying pan?" Alice frowned at him.

"Sì," Lovino's face paled. "She used to-a watch us when we were-a kids-a. I've seen what-a that-a thing can-a do."

"And Vash?" Alice asked.

"Lui ha un bastone su per il culo," Lovino snickered. "But he's-a one of-a my best-a gunmen. So, he-a doesn't like to use knives-a unless he-a has to. And-a you-a should-a visit the Fox and Goblin pub. The owner was a friend of my father. Kiku works there, too."

"Grazie."

"Oh, and-a ragazza?" Lovino looked at her. "You-a have to-a wait until-a I leave. Unless-a you want to-a die." If she followed him, she'd know top-secret information that could get her killed.

Alice snorted. "Please, I've known about the Mafia since I was a child." Her father and Lovino's father, Romulus Vargas, used to go at each other. Endless fighting, her father locking up Mafia members, forcing her father do overtime. If you asked the people of Britain, Fergus Kirkland won. Because the amount of people that died, to the amount of people that were saved was pure brilliance.

If you asked his children, Romulus Vargas won.

Lovino didn't look at her. One of the things those two understood about each other: family. Lovino was the unloved, ignored child. The one that was constantly being compared to Feliciano. Nobody ever treated the two as equals except for a few (Mainly, his older brothers: Heracles and Gupta). Over time, he'd proved himself to be a great asset to the Mafia and by climbing through the ranks, he'd made himself the new Mafia boss and gained his father's praise before he passed away.

Alice had a slightly more complicated problem.

"We-a had-a some pretty-a messed up-a dad's, didn't we?" Lovino looked at her this time.

Alice glared, bright green eyes lit aflame. "That bastard wasn't my father."

Lovino didn't say anything for a while. "Your fratelli and sorella are fine."

"Yeah?" She knew Lovino had been watching her family. After she saved Feliciano and Ludwig, Lovino agreed to return the favor by keeping tabs on her family while she was travelling the world. Alice was too much of a coward to call them every once in a while. He was the reason she knew about Dylan's "accident" in the first place.

Lovino nodded. "Besides your-a stupid-a crossdressing brother getting into bar fights, and your-a sister getting hit on, they're-a fine."

Alice resisted slapping her forehead. "Seriously?"

"See you later, Witch." Lovino chuckled, but then his face turned serious again. She suppressed a shudder. Not in fear for her safety, but for what Lovino would do once he had his hands on the killer. "Watch your-a back. If the killer is one-a of those people, your-a in some deep shit, ragazza."

Translations:

Ragazza = Girl.

Sì = Yes.

Idiota = Idiot.

Bastardo = Bastard.

Complimenti = Complements.

Condoglianze = Condolences.

Sì, Sì = Yes, yes.

Mio fratello = My brother.

Ragazza idiota = Idiot girl.

Che cazzo?! = The fuck?!

Ho bisogno di una carta e penna. = I need a pen and paper.

Fratello idiota = Idiot brother.

Lui ha un bastone su per il culo = He has a stick up his ass.

Fratelli = Brothers.

Sorella = Sister.