"Who was that, Romano?"

Veneziano, paused in mid-step, caught a half-second look at the dark, glazed-over look on his brother's face. But, it was gone by the time he blinked, replaced with a confused look as Romano came to attention.

"Ah? No one. Just an old friend. Did you finish your 'cleaning' yet?"

"Almost done. Are you okay? You looked annoyed." He continued on his path, jumping up onto a kitchen counter to reach the tops of the cabinets above.

Normally, Romano would have been annoyed at his brother jumping up everywhere, with his natural clumsy nature. This development, however, was more than welcome. The Mafia had changed Italy, in only a few short weeks. He was happy to do go grocery shopping, was bringing more girls than ever back to his room (slightly to Romano's jealousy,) and had discovered that day that Romano's housekeeper was doing a terrible job of keeping the tops of high places clean. Despite Romano's protests, he'd been contently swinging from place to place for almost an hour.

"I'm fine. He has a bad family problem going on. How long are you going to spend on one damn cabinet top, fratellino?! We've gotta go soon!"

"Has it been an hour already? I'm sorry. I can finish later." He left the rag in its place, and hopped down from the counter."

"Change your clothes," Romano requested.

"Huh? What's wrong with what I normally wear?" Veneziano's hands raised up to his sides to emphasize his question.

"You're covered in dust, and you smell like a maid cart took a crap on you. This is a serious mission, not a cleaning competition," Romano deadpanned.

Veneziano looked down, seeing the telltale light brown stains on his sleeves and various other places on his black shirt and pants. He got the point. "Fine," he groaned, "I'll meet you in the car in three. You're worse than-" He aborted his sentence abruptly, immediately turning to his room to work on the task at hand. His brother didn't question the abrupt end to the sentence. He knew what he was about to say. And he was pleased that he chose not to. That name had been taboo for as long as Romano had known that asshole, and Veneziano was finally getting the hang of it.

Romano took his leave outside, allowing his thoughts to switch back to his recent phone conversation. 'I'll beat him into extinction if he so much as shows up in Sicily. He's smart enough to know that… and more than twice as dumb enough to ignore me. There will be a confrontation here, soon. And I will not be caught off-guard.'

He spun around just in time to catch the figure approaching him from behind.

"Veni." A sharp finger pointed to the left side of the car. "Quit goofing around and get your ass in the seat before I shoot you instead of these bastards."

Veneziano shrugged off this failed attempt at startling his brother, and got in the car without protest.

'Nope,' Romano thought as he swung into the driver's seat and cranked up the car. "I won't be caught off-guard.'


The two brothers, along with Azzo, walked from the building unceremoniously. Despite all of the gunfire that had been exchanged, there was nothing to fear from the houses around. Their family ran the entire block. This mission had just been to remind everyone of that. They could ensure that the whispers of rebellion would be silenced now that the ring leader wouldn't be speaking anymore.

"I gotta tell you, fratellino, I'm proud of you." Romano momentarily shifted his revolver to his left hand, to slap his brother on the shoulder.

Veneziano smiled. "Careful, fratello, this arm's busy, and you're not helping."

On the other end of the arm, fingers were deeply tangled in a head of medium-long, black hair. The owner of the hair was punching and struggling, but her petite frame had nowhere near enough power to free itself. The fourteen-year-old didn't make a peep as she fought to get away from her captors. He and the pistol in his right hand had made her well aware that a scream for help meant she would be left dead on the ground. He let her have her go at freedom, though. The more she fought, the easier she'd be to subdue later on.

"I am, though! We didn't take a bit of damage, and it was all you. Man, you're a freak of nature with that Tommy gun. Took out what, seven of them and hardly used any ammo? Can't believe I ever thought the Mafia wasn't for you. It must be in our blood! Why couldn't you be more like that during the war?"

Veneziano shrugged graciously.

Azzo chuckled. "From what I've heard, you weren't that great at war either, Lovino."

"Tch, That's beside the point." The group reached the cars they'd parked moderately far away. "Hey, Feli, throw this bitch in the back, then head home. I've gotta talk to Azzo for a bit; we'll take her back."

"No problema; see you back at home." He took to getting the protesting girl into his car, who obliged as soon as he pulled back the hammer to remind her of what was in his other hand.

"What's up, Lovino?" Azzo asked, sliding into the driver's seat of his car as Veneziano drove off. His eyes widened slightly as Romano's darkened.

Romano joined him inside. "I need a few guys for a task."

"A few guys? A task like what? You know we're spread a little thin right now."

"I know, I know. But this is very important. They don't have to be experienced. Just give me some grunts with a lust for blood. There are some guys at the hideout now, yeah?"

"I have a couple who you could take home with you. Not much brain, but a lot of brawn. I can find you more tomorrow."

"Fuck, I'll take whatever I can get tonight- HEY."

The girl the back froze in a flinch as a ring of lukewarm metal was pressed against her head.

"Calmarsi, o ti prende troppo."

She remained silent and still for the remainder of her time in the car.

Romano sighed and slouched back in his seat, massaging his temple exhaustedly. "Bitch is giving me a headache. Let's get her there ASAP." Azzo nodded in agreement, starting the car with a roar and pulling away from the curb.

"So, are you going to keep me in the dark about why you need these guys?" He feigned a hurt tone in his question.

"It's the potato bastard's brother. He's trying to get the two back together, and I don't plan to let that happen. Feli hasn't acted this normal since we were kids. Even if we weren't the strongest, he was actually capable of doing things by himself back then. He became even weaker as we got older, and once he latched onto Herr Potato Shit, I knew hope for him was gone entirely. We've been granted a second chance. I'll kill Gilbert before I let him take it away."

Azzo nodded. "So, you think he knows how to find you?"

"He's halfway there already. He called me; he's on my tail."

"Well, least I can do for you is lend you some boys and stay out of it."

"Thanks, fratello. I won't need them long. I'm expecting a visit in the next couple of days."

Romano grinned gratefully and turned his attention to his own buzzing thoughts. 'Friends who've got your back no matter what. That,' he realized as he settled into the ride ahead, 'is what I missed most.'