“Why do you hate him so much anyway?” Peter sipped on his hot beverage, but his eyes watched her over the rim of his mug.“Besides the fact that the man isn’t exactly the picture of virtue? I don’t trust him, I get the sense that he’s hiding something and Xander is too blinded to even question. Vito Costello is the only person who knew we were going to the warehouse that night.” Serenity’s eyes glared at the liquid swirling in her cup.“The same can be said for Genino and by the looks of things, there are more fingers pointing at him than Vito right now.” Peter pointed out and Serenity couldn’t help but sneer at the logic of it all.“I still don’t trust Vito.” She mumbled moodily.
With a heavy sigh, Serenity steps into the Moretti residence and is surprised to find Xander waiting for her leaning against the wall in the living room.“How is he?” Xander’s deep voice broke the silence, his eyes watched as she placed her purse and keys on the side table and warmth sparked inside him.“Hurting, furious, blaming himself. Take your pick.” She responded bitterly, the relief she felt at seeing Lorenzo awake and alert was quickly dampened by the pain she felt at seeing him digest the news of Darrio’s death and Matteo’s disappearance.“Serenity, we need to talk.” Xander spoke after a beat of silence and Serenity’s feet paused in its journey towards the stairs.
Serenity sat ramrod in her chair around the same table as the Capos, one of the reasons being that Joseph Genino sat calmly in the chair across from her, completely unaware of the homicidal thoughts running through her head. The second reason being that Xander was taking his sweet time about getting the meeting underway.Just as her patience reached an all time low, a man entered the room and whispered something in Xander’s ear which caused his whole demeanour to change. Serenity sat forward, practically on the edge of her seat.Don Alexander cleared his throat, finally facing the room full of people he summoned, “Thank you all for taking the time to be here.” he started, but the tone of his voice spoke otherwise, he wasn’t grateful in the least.
Light, measured footsteps sounded in the room and Serenity felt her spine stiffen, “How did you find me?”“I looked everywhere else and you weren’t there.” Xander took a seat on the floor beside her and brought his knees to his chest, mirroring her position.“I’m surprised you didn’t just call Daniel.” She chuckled dryly.“Oh I did.” Xander scoffed, “You shouldn’t be here, it’s not safe and you know that.” He looked around at the stone wall of the mansion, he had to admit the place felt a lot more like home than his parent’s house did.“Oh please enlighten me
“Hey.” Lorenzo greeted as he rolled through the living room door where Serenity typed furiously on her laptop with a pair of eyeglasses perched on her nose.“Hey, you’re back already.” She glanced up at him briefly before turning her attention back to the strongly worded email she was drafting.“Yeah, turns out there wasn’t much to do other than sign a bunch of paperwork.” Lorenzo’s voice held a tinge of hostility which wasn’t lost on her.Turning her eyes to her brother she set her laptop on the couch beside her, “Is that a bad thing?” She asked curiously.“No.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, an action
“Don’t look so frightened, Chica. I don’t bite, unless you ask me to.” José whispered in Serenity’s ear and laughed mirthlessly when the hairs at the back of her neck stood. “José, I’d say it’s nice to see you again, but we both know I’d be lying.” Serenity squared her shoulders and offered him a sarcastic smirk. José’s hand flew to his heart in mock hurt, “You wound me, Chica.” He cackled and took a seat across from her. “Whatever, did you get what I asked for?” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Si, it’s all on here.” He slid the flash drive across the table, but before Serenity could take it, his fingers tightened, “I must warn you though, you’re not gonna like it.” He looked at her seriously. “I was counting on it.” She gritted and forced the stick from his hand and plugged it into her phone to transfer the files. “You got what you need.” José nodded and took the stick that she handed him. “One tin of pringles.” She retrieved the tin from her bag and slid it across the ta
Through the bulletproof shutters that were recently installed, Serenity could vaguely see the starry night sky. The clock on her laptop read 1 am, but she was far from finished.All the information José managed to find on Vito and his business associates made for a lot of reading, it reminded her why she was willing to pay two thousand dollars for a single day’s work. The man was thorough.Paging through endless pictures of him with various men she didn’t quite recognise, she was just about ready to fall asleep when a familiar car caught her eye in the background of the picture. The car was partly obscured by a passerby, but the bumper sticker sparked recognition in her.
“Yeah, it’s me.” His voice sounded hoarse, like he hadn’t used it in days.“Teo, where are you, are you okay?” She nearly sobbed through the phone.“I’m… okay. Listen, Ser, I don’t have a lot of time, is Enzo or Xander there?” He whispered on the other end and Serenity scrambled after Enzo.“Enzo! Where are you!” She raced towards his room and stopped short when she threw open the door and found him already facing her.He frowned at her behaviour, “What-?”“Matteo.” Was all she said and put the phone on speaker.