The next morning, Annalisa is doing Yoga in the room, while I'm reading a book I brought with me, when we hear Ken groaning, as he's stirring.

Annalisa moves back towards me and we wait and watch as he's coming out of his slumber. He rolls over, blinking and rubs his eyes before looking around the room. His eyes land on the tripod with the camera angled down at him. He gasps when he sees us.

"Morning, sunshine." I smile at him.

He looks at me alarmed. "Who...who are you?"

"No need to panic, Ken." I remove my feet resting on the table and stand up.

"I...I don't...I don't know what happened and..." He looks down at himself, realizing that the only thing between us and his birthday suit is a thin sheet. I make a mental note to tell Topo we need a darker color, next time.

Listen to me, next time? I chuckle quietly and Ken pulls the sheet higher over himself. "I don't need to know what happened, I just need to get home...or work, people will notice if I'm not there. I won't say anything, I promise."

"Sh, sh, sh, Ken. We'll have you out of here in a jiffy." Annalisa reassures him as she moves around from behind me. I bite back a smile, surprised as I watch her take charge.

"Word has it, you're the head financial advisor for a lot of big wigs, here in Chicago, is that correct?" Annalisa asks him. He looks at me then back at her, blinking, not knowing where this is going. "More specifically, you work for Sofia LaMontagne, yes?"

He gulps and nods his head slowly. "Good, good." Annalisa smiles back at him.

There's a knock at the door and one of the men walks in with three cups of coffee. He hands me one and then another to Annalisa. He sets the third one down next to Ken.

"Didn't know if you take cream or sugar in yours, so we just got you a black coffee." Annalisa informs him.

Ken looks down at the coffee and then back at us. "Thank...thank you." He stammers and shakily reaches for the black coffee. I'm certain he's going to spill his coffee on himself. But he uses his other hand to steady the cup.

At that moment, Samantha walks in, in her robe and greets us. She turns to Ken and smiles widely at him. "Morning, daddy." She bends down to grab her clothes, that are next to his neatly folded ones.

She sashays out of the room, looking over her shoulder, winking back at him. He looks back at his clothes on the floor then back at the door, where Samantha just walked out of.

I bring his attention back to the matter at hand. "Here's the thing Ken. You're going to give us the location Sofia operates out of here, in Chicago. And you're going to do it willingly, do you want to know why?" I ask as I sit and lean back crossing my legs.

He doesn't answer, right away. But then shakes his head. "No, I don't know."

Annalisa crouches down next to him. "Because if you don't cooperate willingly, we will be forced to share some very, colorful and creative work you've been involved in recently. Now, I know that doesn't seem very motivating. But trust me...

You don't want this getting out to your other clients. Social media is ridiculously blowing up these days and you know what they say, once something's on the internet, it's there forever. Even when you think it's been deleted, it's not. It's always there, somewhere." I laugh quietly behind her. 

I think she's enjoying this a little too much.

"Ken, we know of a few locations where Sofia keeps some of her money, but we want the creme de la creme..." I lean forward, getting his attention. "And you're going to tell us where it is."

"If I don't?" He asks trying to sound confident, but his voice wavers.

"Well, we just told you but... if you want to call our bluff that's your prerogative." Annalisa says, turning back to me as I hand her my phone. "However, your friends, co-workers, clients will find out you have a whole other side to you, Ken. I mean, to each their own, no judgement, but this will definitely give people something to talk about."

Annalisa makes sure the volume is turned up high and hits play. She holds my phone out towards him. The sounds of his moans and groans fill the room, along with Samantha laughing a long with him. "Say it sweetheart, who am I?" He orders.

Samantha moans seductively before she answers. "Daddy, you're daddy!"

Ken pales and then proceeds to throw up.

We walk out of the room shortly after, leaving Ken to clean up and get dressed. Topo approaches us, eyeing us cautiously.

"Well, did he tell you guys?" Topo asks.

"You bet he did!" Annalisa says proudly. "And I recorded him as he told us." She tells him. He raises an eyebrow not impressed. 

"And how do you know he told you the truth?"

"I told him if he was lying then not only would we post the video but send pictures to his place of work." She smiles widely at him.

He chuckles, shaking his head. "Lets get out of here then. The guys will take him back to his car. Sam already left. She said she didn't want the payment when I tried giving it to her." He tells us as we walk out of the house.

"I know. She told me she didn't want the payment either when I had first asked her, too." I turn to him. "Admit it, it was a great plan and no one got killed."

I spoke too soon as a single gunshot, rings out from the house. Annalisa holds on to me, while Topo yells at us to run to the car as he runs back in the house.

A part of me wants to run after him, but remembering I have Annalisa next to me, I decide I better listen and run back to the car. We wait for what seems like an eternity.

We finally see Topo coming out of the house as he jogs over the car. "What happened?" I ask.

"Ken...he shot himself. He told the guys he'd rather go out on his own terms than have to worry about Sofia coming after him." He tells us quickly as we get in the car.

Annalisa sounds like she's hyperventilating. "Annalisa, slow down your breathing, you're going to pass out, if you don't." He tells her as he pulls away.

"Where did he get the gun?" I ask.

"He pulled it off the back of one of the guys, as they were walking out of the back of the house. They thought he was going to shoot his way out at first, but then he turned the gun on himself. "

"What about the body?" Annalisa asks quietly.

"The guys know what to do." He tells her.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." Annalisa mumbles from the back seat, I squeeze my eyes shut, knowing what's she's thinking. "He killed himself because of what we did to him."

"You didn't do anything, Anna. He just couldn't live with the guilt of his choices." I try to console her, but I know what's going through her mind, recalling how I felt after my first job.

"But he didn't make a choice. We drugged him and he wasn't in the right state of mind to know what he was doing. I'm going to hell." She counters, biting her thumbnail as she looks out the window; tears falling down her face.

"Save me a spot, then." Topo tells her, trying to make a joke but then looks at us seriously. "This is why I didn't want you to come. Your heart is too good to do what needs to be done in this world."

"You have a good heart too, Topo." Annalisa speaks up.

"No...my heart is bad. I'm damaged." He tells us quietly. "I don't even feel bad about what happened, what does that say?"

I don't say anything, realizing the hard truth that my heart is bad and damaged, too. "So now what?" I try to focus on something else.

"Well, now since the fucker decided to off himself, we need to act quickly before word reaches Sofia." He tells me. I sit back running my hands through my hair.

"Okay, what do I do?"

He looks at me. "Nothing. We can get done what we need, in the next 48 hours without having to involve you. The guys will be leaving Ken's body in one of the hotels he frequents. He killed himself, so that's how he'll be found and that's that."

I ask why we don't use a clean up crew, but he doesn't want Cristian to know there was a hiccup with my plan. Annalisa asks him about the missing blood splatter and spray. He just gave us a look shaking his head. Telling us we watch too much TV, while reminding us, they do this for a living.

I cross my arms, annoyed at his comment. But realize he's right, I did watch a lot of TV, growing up. What else was I supposed to do all those years, I was always locked up in the house, all the time.

I would watch all kinds of tutorials for do it yourself projects, dancing, crafts, painting, singing and even crocheting videos. I smile, remembering a Christmas, when I made beanies for everyone and a scarf for Carmela one year.

I frown when I realize no one ever wore them. Except Carmela. She wore the scarf almost every Christmas until it started fraying.

"Why are you frowning like that?" Topo interrupts my thoughts. I shake my head. Telling him he was right that I did watch a lot of TV growing up, since I was always on lock down.

"I forgot to tell you about last night. I found out who broke into Z's gym." He glances over at me asking how. "When I was out on that jog, I was near there and was going to stop by to see him, but it didn't look like he was home. But there was a loud banging sound coming from around the back."

"And you went towards the sound?" He looks at me incredulously. "Honestly Stella, sometimes, I wonder about that head of yours."

"Same," Annalisa says from the backseat.

"Anyway..." I scowl, annoyed at both of them, "turns out it was a kid. She's only thirteen. I'm pretty sure she's homeless. She said she just wanted a place to stay for the night. I offered her to come home with me, for the night."

He looks at me again, his eyebrows raised.

"Obviously, she didn't. She's like stranger danger and all." I say, shaking my head.

"Sounds like she has better sense than you."

I give him the silent treatment for the rest of the drive home.

********

The next couple of days drag on, unbelievably slow. Topo's been gone both days and while he's been communicating via text, he hasn't given us any details on what's been going on.

I busy myself with work at the gym, and training Annalisa. We went to a shooting range, since she's been practicing with the gun she got from Rocco before he left back to Italy.

Today I went for a run and cleaned our already clean apartment top to bottom. I washed Bruce's clothes in the laundromat in the basement of the apartment building. I checked our to go bags and made sure they're good to go.

Topo has told me to be mindful of the season we are in for clothing reasons. And to make sure all travel docs are readily available: a VISA, passport, a few different licenses with different aliases and of course money.

The rest of the afternoon, I preoccupy myself, making homemade lasagna and breadsticks for dinner. As I'm pulling out the lasagna, Topo walks in through the door. "Hey, how did it go?"

He drops a duffel bag on the floor and sets the car keys on the counter. He takes off his jacket, laying it over the back of the couch. "Good."

"Well...are you going to tell me or what?" I ask impatiently as I toss the salad before setting it on the table. "I invited Samantha for dinner, so tell me before she gets here."

He dries his hands after washing them at the kitchen sink. He sighs as he opens the cabinet to grab some plates. "What do you want to know exactly?"

"Duh, everything!" As if it isn't obvious. He chuckles, shaking his head as he sets out plates and silverware on the table.

"We checked each of the locations and found some things...of interest" He says drawing out the details knowing that drives me crazy. "Topo!"

He laughs. "Okay, okay. We hit the jackpot. Turns out, Sofia got her hands on a lot of notebooks, ledgers, and records that Bobby Cardinale had in a safe. We're talking information that could have lead to her having a lot of powerful people in her pocket. Lawyers, judges, local police, senators, you name it."

"Anyway, so we gathered all that up, that's what's in the bag and then we burned the rest of the shit up." He says it shrugging.

I look at him. "Like all her money?"

He nods. " But I doubt she'd leave all her all her money in those locations. And if she did then, she's not as smart as we gave her credit for." He laughs. "Now, we just need to lay low as her short lived reign goes up in flames, literally."

There's a knock at the door that stops me from responding. I check the peephole and see it's Samantha. "Hey girl. Sorry, I'm late. We were short handed at the diner today, again." She sighs dramatically. She walks in still in her uniform.

"Hi, Paolo." She smiles at him seductively.

"Samantha." He responds.

"I swear you're the only one that makes my name sound like a cuss word and I love it!" She grins at him.

He shakes his head at her and goes to the fridge to grab some drinks. Annalisa comes out of her room and greets Samantha, hugging her.

We sit and enjoy the meal together. We talk about current events and the craziness that seems to be taking over the world, these days. 

Topo excuses himself from the table afterwards, saying he's going to jump in the shower. Samantha teases saying she'll join him in a few. We hear the lock on the bathroom door engage and laugh loudly.

I set out the cannolis I made, for dessert.

"Girl, I swear you're trying to make me fat!" She moans as she eats her second cannoli.

Annalisa helps me clean up. Samantha helps dry dishes then heads home afterwards, telling us she's gotta get ready for work tonight.

I offer her some of the left overs but she turns them down, saying she's trying to lose the ten pounds she gained since we met.

I'm putting some of the leftovers in containers to take to Bruce, when Topo walks out in just a pair of sweats, rubbing a towel over his head. "Sam go home?"

"Yes. But you know that, otherwise you wouldn't have come out here half dressed." I smirk. "She'd be all over you and you know it." He rolls his eyes as he goes to the fridge and grabs a beer.

"Where are you going?" Annalisa asks, as I stack the containers inside a bag. I also have Bruce's clean clothes ready to go.

"I'm taking leftovers to Bruce with his now clean clothes."

"Don't be out long, it's already dark. Make sure you carry. And, if you don't find him, don't go out looking for him either, Stella." Topo warns me.

"Yes, daddy."

"Don't call me that." He grimaces. I laugh as I head out the door, locking it behind me. I head down the stairs and step out into the cool night. I few passerby's nod at me in acknowledgment.

I head to the spot I usually find him. When I don't see him, I circle back around the block. I decide to go towards his usual campout near the bridge.

I spot him as I'm walking up to the area. He's rushing towards me. "Stella, I was just coming to get you."

"Really? Why?" I ask bewildered.

"Someone was asking about you."