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buona sera = good evening

buon appetito = enjoy you meal

devastazione = havoc / disaster

sorellina = little sister

porco Dio = damn

fratello = brother

per favore = please

grazie = thank you

bambina = child (girl)

cara = love / sweetheart

calmati = calm down / relax

ciao = bye / hi

ti amo = I love you

zia = aunt

nonna = grandma

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𝓟𝓲𝓪 —– –

Pia checks her make-up in the mirror of the bathroom at school. The parent-teacher meeting is about to start and she's not looking forward to it at all. She is very confident about her work and knows she's an excellent teacher. She loves her kids and throws herself into her job with all she has every single day. But this is by far the most annoying part of her job.

Parents who are completely uninterested, parents who want to know if their kid is university material and parents who are so unstable that it's more about them than their child. 

She adjusts her dark red dress and winks at herself in the mirror, before walking towards her classroom. She runs into Thomas on the way over there and he stares deep into her eyes, placing his hand on her shoulder. 

"Good luck, Pia." 

Pia graces him with a grateful smile and walks into her classroom.

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Pia rubs her neck and breathes out slowly when the last parent has finally left. Adults are annoying to deal with, she thinks to herself.

Thomas looks into the room and yells: "Pizza and wine! Come!" 

Pia chuckles and gets up to grab her bag and coat. They walk out of the school building together, on their way to a pizzeria not far from the school.

Mister Gentile is waiting for them with a bottle of Dolcetto and two glasses. "Buona sera Pia and Thomaso. Have a seat and I will pour the wine for you. Do you want your regular order?" They both nod and Pia takes a big sip from the wine. Thomas leans back in his chair and rubs his temples. They share a look of compassion and understanding and wait in silence for the food to arrive.

Mister Gentile whistles as he walks up to their table and places the pizza on the table with a theatrical gesture. "Here you go! Your pizza Devastazione! Buon appetito!" 

Pia grins and looks at the pizza with stars in her eyes. The pizza looks horrible and is only prepared for her because it's not on the menu. She came up with it herself when she was ten years old while her mom was in the hospital.

She got to stay with Mister Gentile and his wife for three days and had the time of her life. He let her run wild in the kitchen and she was allowed to create her own pizza. Eventually, she ended up with a pizza with every available type of meat on it, finished off with cheese, onions, mushrooms, and an egg. And mister Gentile came up with the name because it looked like a disaster according to him.

Thomas is the only one who knows about the story behind the pizza and what it tastes like. He sniggers and immediately grabs a slice to take a bite. Once he's swallowed the bite down he says: "This is the only reason I look forward to parent-teacher meetings. A beautiful woman, good wine, and an amazing pizza, that will leave me with stomach acid issues for days!"

Pia laughs and says: "You're welcome!" 

She grabs a slice and enjoys the flavor with her eyes closed.

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𝓢 — – -

She zips up her leather jacket and puts her gloves on. She kisses him on his cheek and says: "Grazie mille." He hands her the keys of her Harley and opens the garage door for her. She gets on the bike, puts her helmet on and fastens the strap under her chin. She starts the bike and speeds off. He watches her drive off with a wistful look in his eyes. 

She accelerates and enjoys the feeling of power and freedom she feels every time she rides her Harley. She really needs a minute to herself before joining Bruno in the gym. She lets out an uncontrolled scream while picking up a bit more speed.

When she arrives at the gym, her heart beats at a fast pace and a cheeky smile rests on her lips. She walks in, nods at the owner, and waves at Bruno with her helmet. She changes into her regular outfit and starts with her jump-rope routine and LL Cool J. She climbs into the ring as soon as she's warmed up. 

Bruno looks at her with an amused look in his eyes and asks: "Is there another ticket on it's way to the apartment?"

She chuckles and says: "I don't think so. I was going so fast that they will only be able to see a blurry line." 

Bruno laughs and runs his fingers through his hair, before giving her a hug. 

"Are you ready, sorellina?"

She nods and says: "I think so. But you're lucky, I ate a heavy dinner, so I am not as fast tonight." They put their mouth guards in and put their gloves on. Bruno gives her a challenging look and tries to surprise her with a punch against her shoulder. But she turns away from him and kicks him at the back of his knee. He falls on that knee and chuckles. 

"Not that fast tonight, yeah right." 

He shakes his head and tries to keep up with her with all his might for the next hour. He sinks to the floor, sweating profusely and yells out: "Porco Dio, sorellina! You have officially surpassed your brother today. I am broken." 

She raises her arms and sticks her tongue out at him. "Finally! If I can beat you, I can beat anyone out there." 

Her eyes glass over and Bruno knows all this training isn't just for fun.

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Ten years ago she walked in here and demanded he'd teach her how to box. He was very hesitant at first, but she looked him straight in the eye and said: "I'll learn it on the streets then." She turned around and started to walk away, but he stopped her. Ever since that day they have been training together five nights a week. She evolved from an angry and, at the same time, broken girl into an adult, strong woman.

One who can really take care of herself and who hides a huge part of her life. But he has accepted it all because he doesn't want to lose her. They share an apartment, where they rarely see each other because they live very different lives. She leaves in the morning to go to work and they meet up at the gym at night. They box and go home together.

If he tries to ask her about work or anything else personal, he gets served the same answer every time: "No fratello. Living together, boxing, riding our bikes, and dinner at mamma's sometimes. That's it. I can't do anything more. I have to keep things to myself. Bruno, per favore. I don't want to lose you." She looks at him with such a sad look when she says it, that he just nods and tries to respect her wishes.

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𝓛𝓸𝓰𝓪𝓷 — – –

Logan grabs the bottle of Puni Alba in advance and places it on a tray with two glasses. The two brothers are saying goodbye to their catch of the day at the entrance of the cafe. But just like every other Friday night, the women do not come in with them. The two men in fancy suits, come in every Friday and drink a bottle of Puni Alba together, while talking in Italian, louder with every glass. The only reason he serves this non-Scottish whisky, is because Alba means Scotland. That way it still honors his motherland a little.

The brothers sit down and gesture him to come over to their table. He sets the glasses and bottle down on the table. They place a stack of bills on the table, hand him three times the bottle's worth, and thank him. They start their conversation and Logan gets back behind the bar. He cleans some glasses en adds some items to his list to order from his supplier.

He thinks about the mysterious woman and knows he won't see her tonight. She never comes in on a Friday night. She never comes in regularly, but Friday night is the only night he has never seen her come in. He wonders why... 

At the end of the night, the brothers stumble out of the cafe and he locks the door behind them. He starts to tidy and clean and when he's done he goes upstairs to sleep.

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𝓟𝓲𝓪 —– –

She buttons up her red blouse and grabs her red boots from the bottom of the closet. She tucks her black skinny jeans into the boots and zips them up. She goes downstairs, grabs her wallet from the counter in the big kitchen, and wraps her arms around mister Gentile. "Grazie. I don't know what I'd do without you."

He strokes her cheek and says: "Bambina, I will always be there for you. I just hope you will let someone else into both sides of your life someday. But I understand that it's easier said than done. Go and enjoy the market, I'll see you later. Oh and bring me something yummy to go with our coffee, okay?"

She flashes him a smile and picks up the basket from the floor. She promises to bring him something good and hangs the basket on her arm. 

She steps outside, breathes in the fresh air, and walks towards the market humming.

She walks by all the stalls and talks to the salesmen and women. Her basket filling up quickly with fresh vegetables and fruit when she suddenly hears a child's voice calling out her name. 

"Miss Pia! Miss Pia!" 

She turns around to be faced with a little ginger-haired boy running up to her. She crouches down, places the basket on the ground, and spreads her arms out. The boy runs into her arms and hugs her with his entire body.

"Ah, sweet Lucas. You just made my day with a hug like that." She sees a tall man run up to them, who looks at the scene unfolding in front of him with his eyebrows raised. When he comes closer, she recognizes him and prays it's not the same the other way around.

He looks at the boy and yells: "Lucas Brewster! Don't you ever do that again! You scared me half to death! You promised to hold my hand! If you can't do that, you'll never be allowed to come  to the market with me again!" The boy looks like he could cry any minute and Pia gets up and plants a kiss on his ginger hair.

The boy smiles carefully at the man who just now seems to realize that Lucas ran to a woman. His grey eyes move up to look into her dark brown ones. He studies her face and tries to figure out if he has seen her before. "Lucas? Who is this pretty lady? Are you secretly going steady here?"

The boy giggles and says: "No, this is miss Pia."

The man holds his hand out to her and says: "Nice to meet you miss Pia. I'm Logan. I'm happy to finally see the face that belongs to Lucas' favorite teacher." She places her hand in his and he stares at her dark red nails for a second. She smiles at him and before he can say anything else, Lucas grabs his other hand and tries to pull him along.

The boy says: "We were going to look at the eels, right? Come!"

Logan chuckles and says: "Sorry miss Pia. But we really have to go and see the live eels. It's tradition. Bye!" He lifts Lucas up and sits him down on his shoulders. They both wave at Pia and walk away with smiles on their faces.

Pia breathes out slowly and picks her basket up from the ground. She walks towards the stall of her favorite baker slowly, while her thoughts run wild. The salesman puts two mocha pastries in a small box, as he sees her come his way and smiles at her. She looks at him and smiles back at him deep in thought. "Good morning Pia! Two mocha pastries for you. Anything else?"

The friendly voice of the salesman pulls her from her dazed state and she replies: "Good morning Fred. Yes. I'd like to have two baguettes as well. I am making soup tonight."

Fred grabs two baguettes and says: "Mister Gentile is one lucky man. Minestrone, I'm guessing?"

Pia nods and takes the two baguettes from him. "Thanks Fred! Have a good day!"

"Thank you! Say hi to everyone at home for me!" She waves and makes her way over to the restaurant.

Mister Gentile gets the coffee machine going, the second she walks in. Pia puts the two pastries on small plates and grabs two forks from the drawer. She sits down at the kitchen table with them and mister Gentile joins her with two cappuccinos. "Grazie cara. Are you staying for lunch?"

Pia nods and says: "Yes. I'm cooking minestrone. We can eat together before I go."

Mister Gentile smiles and says: "Nice! Your soup is always a treat."

Pia laughs and says: "Thank god, cause it's the only decent food I'm able to prepare." They drink their coffee en enjoy their pastry.

Mister Gentile starts his prepping for the pizzas, while Pia cooks the minestrone. After they eat it with the baguettes, Pia pours the leftover soup in a container. She sticks it into her leather backpack along with the leftover baguette. 

She starts a conversation with mister Gentile as he sets everything up for the dinner rush. They talk about work and family and just enjoy being in each other's company.

After a while, she says: "I'll go get changed. See you in a bit."

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𝓢 — – -

She comes down wearing her leather pants, a black T-shirt, and black biker boots. She grabs her leather jacket and zips it up. She also gets her helmet en takes her leather gloves out of it. She puts the gloves on and walks towards the kitchen. In there she grabs her backpack en puts it on her back. She follows him into the garage, where she hugs him warmly, before hopping on her Harley. He opens the garage door and she puts her helmet on. She winks at him, closes the visor, starts the engine, and races off.

She passes Logan's cafe on her way to the apartment and sees him on the sidewalk with a small boy. Her heart skips a beat and she accelerates. When she arrives at the apartment and parks her bike in the underground parking, she sees that Bruno's silver bike is already there. She's glad he's early today, that way they can have dinner together and watch some boxing on TV.

He came home late and drunk last Saturday, after she had been waiting for him all night. He didn't even see her sitting there on the couch and went straight to bed. And she didn't have the heart to talk to him about it, because she doesn't share much about her own life with him. 

When she enters through the front door she can hear his voice.

"Mamma, calmati. I asked her and she said she was coming... I know mamma... Yes... I know... Yes mamma... Ciao mamma... Ti amo." She makes her way towards the kitchen and smells the ossobuco already. Bruno is standing in front of the stove and lays his phone down on the counter with a sigh.

She taps his shoulder and he turns around to face her. He tries to hide the worry in his eyes as soon as he sees her and pulls her close for a hug. "Sorellina! I'm glad you're here! The ossobuco needs another hour or so and then we can eat." 

She pulls the baguette and the small container from her bag and hands it to Bruno. He pulls the lid of the container and a smile appears on his face. "Yes! Your minestrone is the best!"

She smiles back at him and sits down at the kitchen island. He fills the empty glass waiting on the island for her, pouring from the already opened bottle of wine. He hands her the glass and leans against the counter to take a sip from his own glass. He studies her, as she takes a big sip and swirls the wine around in her mouth, before swallowing it. She makes eye contact with him and asks: "Was that mamma on the phone?"

Bruno takes another sip from his wine and nods. "Yes, she wanted to make sure you were coming tomorrow. She demanded I'd tell you that she loves you and that every day she doesn't get to tell you that in person, breaks her heart a bit more." A tear rolls down her cheek and she looks at him with a desperate look in her eyes.

He walks over to her and wraps his arms around her. "I know little sister. You are not hurting her on purpose. I wish I knew why, but I know you well enough to know you don't want to talk about it. But know that she loves you the most. She would trade in every single one of her sons if that meant seeing you every day."

His shirt gets wet from her warm tears and his heart breaks. This strong woman, who never shows any weakness, has one huge weak spot and that's mamma. Like all of them have. Even his criminal brothers.

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There you go, chapter 3 or better, tre.

How do you feel about Pia?

And Bruno's sister, who's name starts with an S? 

What about Bruno?

Anything else to add?

❤ XO Hankie