- - -

            "Not today, Satan."

            Somehow, someway, Rico had managed to get hold of a second gun.  The barrel stuck out discretely from the pocket of his hoodie; the gunshot still echoed through the night air as Michael Luciano dropped to the concrete, clutching his bleeding arm.  A string of colorful words slipped past his lips, causing Federico to smile.

            Liam and I were already scrambling out the car, preparing to approach the two.  I rounded the car and joined Liam at his side as we stayed hidden, watching from a short distance as the scene continued to play out in front of us. 

            Rico rests the gun he shot Michael with, back into his pocket, before placing his sung lasses back on the bridge of his nose and pushing them up on his face.  He, then, takes a step forward, before squatting down beside Michael's body.  The older man was still writing in pain on the ground, blood covering his own hand as it seeped out the gunshot wound in his arm.

            "Nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever, beaten me at my own game, Michael," Federico leans forward, taking the loaded gun out of his pocket.  "This, was your gun," He reaches out, dragging the empty gun to his side and picking it up, "This, was my gun."  Rico smiles once again, "Why don't you take your amateur ass back to the streets you came from, before I kill you."

            This was Liam and I's cue.  I followed behind Luciano closely; a little hesitant as I took each and every step closer.  Federico pulled himself up, taking a step back and turning to Liam.  I can see Luciano nod in a respectful manner as Rico takes a few more steps back, allowing Liam to stand where he once stood; right above Michael's body. 

            I angled my body towards Rico; and the look I was giving him must've caught his attention, because his head turns in my direction.  It was impossible to see his eyes; so as I looked up at him, all I could see were streetlights and my faint reflection in his dark sunglasses.  His lips were attempting to pull themselves into a smile, but I knew the expression that I held on my face caused his attempt to fall short.

            "You could've gotten hurt," I breathe out.  My heart was still hammering against my ribcage and my fingers still felt numb due to the grip I had on Liam's thigh.  If you looked close enough, you could even see my hands shaking – slightly, but they were still shaking.

            Federico twists his head sideways, a slow smile growing on his face.  His lips part, revealing the same show stopping smile I had seen many times.  "Were you...were you worried about me?"

            Psh.

            "Barely."

            "You care about me,"

            "Hah."

            "You do!" Rico giggles, causing my own smile to appear on my face.  He attempts to nudge me with his shoulder, but because of our height difference, his bicep pushes me a bit to the right.  "Aw! Faith, I knew our relationship would progress!"

            I scoff before turning to face Michael and Liam.  Yet, in the back of my head, I couldn't help but see the personality change Rico had just shown; not even two minutes ago, he was a cold-hearted killer, and now, he was teasing me. 

            Liam turns around the face us, but his attention was solely on Federico.  Behind him, I could see Michael dragging himself to his feet; his un-injured arm was wrapped tightly around his other's forearm, where the bullet had protruded his skin.  Blood was seeping through his clothes, his hand increasingly being covered in it as the seconds ticked away.  Luciano points at Rico.

            "You good?"

            Rico just nods.

            Liam does the same, before whirling on the heels of his shoes and raising his fist.  His closed hand makes contact with Michael's face before either of us could make a comment.  Michael stumbles backward, already unstable because of his injured leg.  He lets out a flurry of curse words as he gathers his balance, his back hitting the brick of the McDonalds. 

            All is quiet as Michael raises a hand to his mouth, wiping the corner of his lips gingerly as blood slowly began drip.  He pulls his hand back, eyeing the blood that's smeared on his fingertips; then he does something none of us expected – he smiles, he smiles and he laughs.  Both Rico and I shared an uneasy glance; I took a step backwards, he didn't.

            "Why the fuck are you smiling?" Liam deadpans; all emotion is lost as he shakes his head, trying to understand Michael's ways.

            "Because," Michael lets out a series of chuckles.  He holds the eye contact with his son the longest, but his eyes dwindle in Rico's direction, before landing on me and staying there.  I felt a chill roll down my spine due to his uneasy glare.  "How stupid do you think I am?" He glances back at Liam, "I knew this was a set-up the entire time."

            I felt my stomach drop and I did the first thing I thought of doing; I reached out for Rico, sharing a growing expression of concern on my face.  But before I could take a step, I saw Rico hold up a palm in my direction and shake his head.  "Stay still," was all he said.

            "I have snipers on the roofs of surrounding buildings.  See, there's one now," Michael points directly at me, causing both Liam and Rico to adjust their stance to get a good look at me.  I was beginning to dip my head, to see what they were all staring at, but Liam snapped at me before I could.

            "Faith, do not look down, do you understand me? Look at me," I do what he says, "Just look at me."  But I already knew what it was; the only thing it could be was a laser dot – a terrifying symbol that only proved that Michael did have snipers somewhere out there, their guns aimed directly at my chest.

            Michael smiles, "Check."

            "This fight is between you and I," Luciano eyes me warily while addressing his father.  He turns back around.  "Don't bring Faith into this.  Don't bring another person I...care about, into your shit."

            "And," Michael holds the word out longer than necessary, "What are you going to do to me? Kill me? Like I told Faith, you wo-" Michael winces greatly as Liam closes the gap of space between them, slamming him back up against the wall.  Luciano had a good grip on him; a hand around his neck, the other digging Michael's shoulder into the brick.  I watch Liam just drop his head and sigh.

            "You have made my life living hell; you made my mother leave – I bet you paid her and threatened her to keep her from speaking to me.  You bribed and threatened Ellie, and now you're threatening Faith's life," Liam raises his head, "I will not stand for that; I will not allow you to hurt her."

            "I'm fairly certain you said something similar about Ellie-"

            "Fuck, Ellie!" Liam reels back, only to slam Michael's back into the wall again.  His head snaps back and he looks dazed when he re-opens his eyes.  Liam's father pulls his mouth into a slow, sloppy smile.

            "I did that already."

            I saw all the tension in Liam's shoulders leave.  His posture changes and he steps away from Michael.  I took another step back as Luciano brings a hand up to his head, massaging his temples and running his hand across his forehead.  Liam takes another step back and dips his head, turning to the right.  He doesn't turn his entire body around to address me, but he speaks to me anyways.

            "Faith," His voice was soft, so he repeats himself, "Faith, go to the car." 

            I was already making up my mind to backpedal and haul ass to Liam's car, but Michael's next statement causes me to stop and hesitate.

            "Move and you're dead," Michael tears his eyes away from me and looks back up at his son.  "Whatever you have to say to me, I'm sure Faith won't mind hearing."  My eyes drop from the two and I look to my left.

            Rico's attention was resting right on Michael; he stared at him hard, hardly even blinking.  I clear my throat, just as Liam looks back to his father, nodding.

            "You're right," Liam nods, accepting what his father had to say, "You're right,"  Michael lets out a breath of air as Luciano grabs the man's throat.  "I may not be able to kill you, Michael; because, I do, I have a heart.  But that doesn't mean I won't have someone else to kill you.  You don't deserve to be shot in the head, you don't deserve to have your car blown up; no, you deserve something much, much worse."  Michael struggles to breathe as he clasps his hands around Liam's wrist, hoping Luciano eased his grip. 

            "The cutting of the throat."

            Everyone faces Rico, who stands there, his arms folded across his chest.  I couldn't help but notice his shoulders bulge as he stands up straight.  He stares Michael down as he repeats himself.  "The cutting of the throat is the worst way to die.  You don't die because of the pain, but you die because in turn, you drown on your own blood.  You end up suffocating, pretty much.  And it isn't instant – it takes a good minute, probably 40 seconds," Rico licks his lips, "You can watch the light fade from their eyes and it's the most satisfying kill."

            I took a cautious step to my right. 

            His psychopath tendencies were showing. 

            "Then that is how you'll die," Liam nods in an approving manner as he turns back to Michael, "And you'll be sent down to hell with Ellie.  And when Federico's time is done up here, he'll join you, and then I'll join you, and we both will make your lives utterly miserable for the rest of eternity."

            Michael's smile falters but he attempts to keep up his confident facade, "I can't wait."

            It was rare to ever see Michael flustered, but Liam had gotten to him tonight. He paused, as if suddenly realizing that he had the upper hand and not his son. His mouth fell open and he stumbled on the first few words that exited his mouth; "Wait, but, I have snipers!"  He yelled the statement out as if that was going to scare Liam, but it didn't – it scared me, though.

            Federico just smiled, "You had snipers."

            Michael's mouth just dropped open as Dominic Santiago stepped out from his hidden position in the dark.  My jaw joins Michael's on the floor as Liam's underboss heads towards us; his steps are heavy and he walks with a certain masculinity that captures my attention.  He comes to a crisp stop in front of us; he shoots me a polite, respectful smile.  Then he turns to his left, giving Rico a nod. 

            Bile rises up my throat as Dom faces Michael and holds up two decapitated heads.  His hand grasps a fistful of their hair; blood drips from the opening where one's neck would belong.  I cover my mouth as he then lifts his left hand; a bloody knife twinkling beneath the moonlight.  Federico chuckles deeply as Michael searches his vocabulary book for words.

            Rico tosses a lazy arm over Dominic's shoulders. 

            "Checkmate,"

- - - -

            The next morning was quiet, and I couldn't have been any more thankful for that.  Luciano had made me drive his car home the night before.  We didn't speak a word to each other the entire thirty minute drive; he didn't even yell at me for almost, almost running over a skunk in the road.  He kept his head bowed, propping his arm up on the door with his hand.  He had been there physically, but his mind was clearly elsewhere – so I did my best not to bother him.

            I remember following Liam into the house.  I had to partially jog as he threw open doors that needed passcodes; a few I just barely caught before they closed, locking me out.  He marched through one of the wings, gathering the attention of all the men in the room.  Many of them threw themselves out of Liam's path, but others didn't quite catch the hint that their boss was most definitely pissed.  One of them had made the grave mistake of calling out to him, asking if he wanted to play him in Black Ops.

            He was a noob. 

            Luciano stopped abruptly before turning to the voice that he heard call out his name.  If looks could kill, he would've been six feet under.  The man squeaked out a, 'sorry', before Liam returned to his mission of heading upstairs.  I received a few weary glances, but I just shook my head and shrugged, answering all of their unasked questions.

            "His father pissed him off," I spoke a loudly, feeling as though everywhere had whipped their attention in my direction.  My face flushed because of all the unwanted attention.  "I really don't know what else-"  A door had slammed behind me, a breeze blowing through the downstairs of the house.  Then Rico and Dominic had walked in.

            "Wow, Faith," Federico's tone had been a teasing one as he sidled up beside me, "Your lips didn't even move that much when I kissed you."

            A few of the men chuckled, some of them even took it to a whole other level by 'oooo'ing.  I even could've sworn I saw Dominic in the corner, trying not to smile; but the laughter and rambunctious behavior died down as quickly as it had begun.

            "You did what?"

            Everyone had craned their neck towards the steps, then the second floor balcony that overlooked the entire floor.  Luciano stood at the top, his hands latched around the railing.  I hadn't been able to see Liam's facial expression, he was too far away, but the same tone he had used earlier with Michael, was back – and with a vengeance. 

            Rico leans down towards my ear, "You, uh, didn't inform him?"

            I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my voice low, "I didn't think it was a big deal, especially after you gave me that Tumblr speech about first kisses." 

            Federico backs away from me as Liam descends down the steps.  He already has his hands up in a defensive manner, "Liam, I understand you're angry, and you probably want to take all the hatred you're feeling for you father out on someone, but that someone is not me."

            I took a step backwards, bumping into another body as Luciano hit the first floor; he didn't stop walking.  In fact, his pace picked up and before anybody could grab him, Liam had grabbed Rico's collar, pulling him close.  The look Luciano had in his eye was murderous; one I had seen multiples times before – once in the basement of his home and a couple other unfortunate times in the hotel in Bora Bora. 

            "You did what?" Liam shakes his fist.  Federico just laughed as he glanced away from Luciano's intense stare.  His gaze floats to a few men in the room, before falling on me. 

            "Liam, relax," He said, "It wasn't even a big-"

            Rico falls back to the ground before he can even finish his sentence.  Luciano wiped his hands on his pants after the violent shove; he then pointed an accusing finger at Federico, who was beginning to pull himself up off the ground.  "I don't care how big of a deal it was; you tell me."

            Federico has a confused expression on his face.  He glances behind him, at Dominic, who just stands there - arms folded.  I turn to Liam, watching as he runs a hand through his hair.  He then turns to me; his eyes had darkened, his face had reddened, and the vein on his neck had bulged for the second time that night.

            My mind floated back to many weeks prior, when Liam had first apologized for his horrible behavior and treatment towards me.  "I have severe anger issues,"  He had admitted.  And when I looked at him last night, at that moment, it was clear; his anger issue is what was driving him to this type of behavior. 

            I remember trying to warn Federico, hoping he would understand that Liam probably didn't mean anything he was saying; but I was far too late.  Rico had already crawled to his feet, pulled off his hoodie, and rolled up his sleeves.  And by the time the two had begun to fight, entangled within each other's limbs; the room as gone crazy.

            Both Rico and Liam were swinging at each other, dodging, and kicking; but as quickly as it had started, it ended.  It took five men to wrap their arms around Rico to pull him off of Liam; the younger man continued to kick, yelling profanities at Luciano. 

            "I'm not a puss-" Rico's eyes fall on me and he clears his throat, "Vagina."  He rips his arms from their grip, glaring at them all.  "If you start a fight with me, you better believe I'm going to end it."

Guns were aimed at Rico's head and their conversation slowly died in my head as I drifted over towards Liam.  Dominic had done the same; he got there before me.  He gripped Liam's shoulder, squeezing gently before guiding him away from Federico.  I followed behind, listening closely.

"Liam, you need to go to your room," Dominic heads up in the direction of the steps.  He shoves Luciano just a bit, but Liam doesn't head up the stairs right away. 

"No," Luciano outright defies.

Dominic blinks, "You're acting like my bitch."

"Shut up, Santiago."

"You haven't smiled in a while," Dom continues to urge Liam up the stairs, towards his bedroom.  Liam just rolls his eyes.  "Seriously, Liam, go to bed."

"Who do you even think you are?" Luciano's voice is strained as he groans, not wanting to listen to his partner in crime.  Dominic leans forward.

"Do you know what the 'D' in my name means?"

Liam shakes his head.

"Daddy."

All three of us laugh softly.  Liam just shakes his head, muttering something about how much a bitch Dominic is, before finally heading up the stairs.  It was nice seeing Luciano's smile, even for a second.  I whirl around just as Dom does; and his sigh fills my ear.

Rico is still arguing feverishly with the men that have guns aimed at his head.  They have him surrounded at all sides and to me, and everyone watching, he looks trapped; but he wasn't.  If Federico wanted to get out of the situation, he could.

"This is what I deal with on a daily basis," were the only words Dominic spoke to me before stepping forward.  He puts a couple fingers in his mouth, creating the loudest, ear piercing whistle I had ever heard.  The gun-holders drop their weapons to cover their ears; Rico just winces at the noise.

The room falls silent as all eyes fall on Dom. 

"Put the guns away," He commands and they listen.  All the guns are holstered and everyone waits for the next command.  "Rico, go to your room."

Federico rolls his eyes, but he listens anyways.  Purposely, Rico bumps shoulders with Dominic as he walks back.  He twists his head just enough to whisper loudly in Dom's ear, "Yes, Daddy." 

I snicker as Rico walks by; he gives me a cheesy smirk before bounding up the steps and disappearing. 

And all of that happened last night.

            The next morning, like I stated, was much quieter.  I was drowning in my thoughts at the sound of the soft rain pelting on the bedroom window; it was soft and reflective, perfect weather for sleeping in and cuddling with a significant other.

            I rolled out of bed at a quarter to eight.  Luciano had gone to bed in his lounging area, leaving the bed all to myself.  Quite honestly, I didn't have a problem with that; it was quite possible that if Liam had actually slept with me last night, I wouldn't have gotten much sleep.  Not after seeing the extreme state of anger he had been in not even 24 hours ago. 

            The bathroom tile was cold as I stepped inside the well-lit room and looked around.  There were two sinks to my right, above them hung a mirror the size of the wall.  I dragged my fingers along the marble of the counter, impressed at the texture and design of it.  Behind me, is a standing shower, protected by a clear glass door.  I even spot a Jacuzzi in the background.

             Balancing myself on one foot, I manage to kick the bathroom door closed.  But a piece of paper attached to it catches my eye.  It starts with my name, indicating that it was a note from me.  I snatch it quickly and scan over it.

            Faith,

                        Good morning, I know you must not be happy that I've left again without telling you anything.  But Rico and I went down the street to scope out something.  Be careful, please.  Dominic is still there; stay by his side and don't wander off.  If he has any problems, which I doubt he will, have him call me.   Ciao.

                        - LuLu.

            I tossed the letter on the table and let out a "hmph".  I did want to hang out with Liam today, but if that didn't happen, I suppose following his attractive, curly haired, tall, semi-dark, and handsome underboss and consi-whatever would make up for it. 

            A couple mouthwash cups later, I was heading down the steps.  The east wing's living room was practically deserted once I got down there, in search of Dominic Santiago.  I asked a few people to point me in the direction of the kitchen and when they said, "Which one?" I knew these men were spoiled.  Absolutely and utterly spoiled.

            To get to the kitchen, I had to pass one of the houses many dining rooms.  The table could easily sit 14 people, possibly more if you wanted to cram in a few stragglers.  Men and women dressed in fine butler-like attire entered the room, handing each man their desired plate of breakfast.  I immediately began regretting even leaving my room once I heard a whistle.

            I back up and take a step inside the room.  Chairs squeaked and heads turned as everyone tried to get a good look at me.  I felt like a zebra that had accidently wandered into a pack of hungry lions.  I cowered from my position and finally, breaking the silence, a man somewhere far inside the room spoke up.

            "Mmm," He comments, "There's no room at this table, but you can sit on my lap." 

            "Ew," I didn't mean to say it out loud, but it happened.  A couple of the men chuckled, but the one that had made the comment, just scoffed. 

            "Whatever, you're the one missing out, stupid bitch."

            "Ms. Crawford isn't missing out on anything Jeremiah," A voice of silk spoke deeply from behind me.  I craned my neck, only to allow my eyes to fall on Dominic.  He wore a well-fitted grey suit; jacket, tie, the works.  The sides of his head, closest to his ears, were shaved low; the top of his head and back were still full of his thick, curly hair.  His curls were loose and gave off the appearance that he had run his hand through it multiple times this morning.

            I felt a sense of security fall over me as Mr. Santiago took a step forward, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.  He never once acknowledged my presence, but I knew he knew I was there.  "And if the beautiful Ms. Crawford sat on your lap, don't act like you would get turned on.  You always boast and lie about how many women you have slept with, but you have never once told the rest of this family just how many men you have fucked." 

The room fell silent.

"We respect women in this house and neither Liam or I take that kind of shit lightly.  Just because Luciano is gone, just because I am younger than Liam, does not mean you can try and bypass the rules.  You are dismissed, Jeremiah-" 

The man known as Jeremiah stands up defeated.  Just like everyone else in the room, he has on a nice suit.  He steps out his chair and scoots it in, before heading straight towards Dominic and I.  He pauses to look at me, but never once does he apologize.  Dominic stares the well-built man down till he exits the room.

The room is still quiet, only a little mumbling beginning to break the awkward silence that is left.  I on the other hand, am completely flustered. 

Dominic takes a step to his right and turns to me.  He has an apologetic look on his face.  "I apologize for my language, Ma'am, and I want to apologize for Jeremiah's behavior on my behalf."  My mouth just stays open as he slips his hand in mine, his thumb brushes over my knuckles.

"I—you're...fine," literally and seriously.

God bless.

I internally made a sign of the cross.

He turns us back to face the room and closes the gap between us.  Chatter begins to erupt as the men before us begin digging into their breakfast.  "You may take Jeremiah's seat if you like, Ms. Crawford."

            "You can call me Faith."

            His smile is gentle and trustworthy.  "And you can call me Dominic, or Dom; whatever pleases you." 

            Did Liam just reach up into heaven and snag this man when he floated by?

            "Um," I clear my head and focus on his previous question, "It's okay, really," I pull my hand from his slowly.  My eyes scan over the men in the room and suddenly I feel intimidated; as if I don't belong.  I felt like the freshman on their first day of school at lunch; everyone had their groups and I had yet to fit in anywhere.  "I'm not hungry."

            Dom manages to speak the next sentence without sounding as though he was accusing me, "You're lying," He says softly.  I can feel his eyes on my temple; then his gaze is gone.  He snaps with his free hand, gathering the attention of a butler walking by.  The well-dressed man steps to the side, eyebrows raised.

            "Yes, Sir?"

            "Can you get two plates please, to go?"

            The butler nods without questioning anything.  We wait there for a few seconds, before two plastic take-out containers are thrusted into Dominic's hands.  He holds them both, before leading me out the room and into the hallway.  We had separated, a little bit of space between us as we walked.

            I held my hands out, indicating non-verbally that I could hold my own plate.  Dom never looks at me directly, but I can see him smile.  He holds the plates in his right hand, away from me. 

            "And what kind of gentlemen would I be if I made you carry something?"

            I laugh out loud, "Are you even real?"

            Dominic slows to a stop in front two oak doors.  I hadn't been paying much attention to the hallways we had turned down to get here.  His smile stays as he pushes one of two double, oak doors that read: Dominic Santiago in gold writing.

            His office was even nicer than Liam's in the other house.  The carpet was plush and I nearly sank into it.  Towards the far wall, were two bookcases packed with books; it was so full, in fact, that many of the books didn't have a place on the self.  Towards the right, was a large desk; like Liam's office, papers were stacked high, covering the wood.  A lap top sat open on the desk.

            To the left was a little sitting area.  A small, 40-inch television was mounted on a table in that corner, the sofas facing it appropriately.  A two person sofa was angled perfectly towards the crisp television screen, and it was surrounded by two matching in color single seats. 

            "You don't think I'm real?"  I turn back to Dom's voice.  He eases himself into his seat, before neatly packing up papers and putting them in different piles.  He pushes his laptop back just a tad, before grabbing one of the take-out boxes and opening it.  The smell of eggs, bacon, and pancakes fill the room; the smell of syrup follows as Dominic drenches the fried batter in it.

            I laugh softly, shaking my head as I approach his desk.  "That isn't what I meant," I correct myself, before turning my back to him and heading towards one of the seats.  I sit down and get comfortable before continuing, "But, now-a-days, when men are nice and respectful, they're just trying to get in your pants.  I consider them fake."

            Dominic nods as he cuts a piece of the pancake off, before stabbing it with his fork, dipping it in more syrup, and eating.  "Mmm," He nods and points at me, "I—jesus, who made these pancakes?"

            "I don't know," I glance down at the pancakes, chewing thoughtfully, "But they're amazing.  I'll probably have seco-" I stop myself.  Dominic raises his head, eyebrows raised.

            "Were you going to say seconds?"

            I hesitate, but eventually I nod in confirmation.

            "Nothing is sexier than a woman with an appetite."

            I was certain my face was turning red, but I hide it quickly.  With a smile on my lips, I point my fork at him, "Yeah, you definitely aren't real!" 

            "I'm real," Dom buries his head into his work after that.  I watch him continuing to eat his breakfast and type on his computer.  "I was just raised by a mother who taught me how to treat women."

            The minutes tick away as both Dominic and I are buried in our own activities.  I have my eyes glued to my phone, texting my mother and asking how their vacation was going along.  It did worry me a while back when she mentioned coming home a bit early.  But, as of today, she had yet to say anything about that.  I look up every so often, only to see Dom signing papers and typing furiously on his keyboard.  Once I looked up again, I could see him staring off into the distance.

            "So, what do you do around here, exactly?"

            My question tears him away from his day-dreaming.  He pulls the phone from his ear, pressing a button on the phone.  He rests it down on his desk, beside his arm as he looks to me.  Soft elevator music came through the phone, indicating whoever Dom had called was busy and had put him on hold.  He starts talking.

            "Liam doesn't come around very often," He starts, "But we keep in contact almost every day.  He's always busy running his company, traveling, promoting; while he does that, I take care of things.  So, around here, I do everything; I oversee any drug or weapon deals, hits...stuff like that," Dominic points to a stack of papers, "These are weapons that are being shipped from Columbia next week; I have to sign off on the deals I agree with; the others, we shred."

            "Why do you have to sign off on them?"

            "Just for reference if we ever have to go back to it," Dominic nods, "Liam, I, and whoever runs the family in the future knows that I looked over everything, saw that it was safe, etcetera."

            "Mr. Santiago," a voice came through the phone loud and clear, their Hispanic accent evident.  Dom holds up a finger in my direction, telling me to hold on.  He taps a button on the phone and puts it up to his ear. 

            "Yes, Damaris," I analyze Dominic closely as he leans forward.  It was clear he was thinking hard as the man talked, "Yes, no, I was calling on behalf of the weapons you were supposed to be smuggling in about a month ago."  The curly haired man lifts his gaze to the ceiling as he listens carefully.  I could see his jaw clench as he grips the phone, probably not liking what was said by Damaris.  "Damaris, we paid in advance for those weapons; that was two-hundred thousand dollars and your goods have yet to come.  Explain that."

            I lean backwards at the sound of Damaris's yelling.  He wasn't' even on speaker and I could clearly hear the words he was spitting in Dominic's ear.  The man before me leans away from the phone, his eyes wide, eyebrows raised. 

            "I know you aren't yelling at me, puta."

            Damaris's yelling seizes.  "What did you just call me?  You said you couldn't speak Spanish!"

            Dominic leans forward again, "Listen to me and listen carefully.  You have twenty four hours to get those guns to our storehouse in Los Angeles – if they aren't there, if I haven't received a call from you, you better start writing your will."

            "Oh, I'm scared," Damaris taunts.  "I've had plenty of hitmen sent after me.  And least to say, none of them ever made it back home.  Except," Damaris's accent fades as he remembers something.

            I see Dom's eyebrows raise once again, "Except?"

            "Except," Damaris continues, "About a year ago, half of my men were wiped out after a deal gone wrong."

            "Who was the deal with?"

            "Vincenzo De Santis."

            A smile crosses Dom's face as he nods.  The same smile crosses mine and we lock eyes; both of us knowing that was most definitely, without a doubt, Ghost. 

            Dominic stands up and bids the Hispanic man, Damaris, goodbye before hanging up the phone.  Liam's underboss moves with such fluency, that you can't help but stare; his suit fits nicely, the watch on his wrist glistens under the light.  He moves with grace, like he's floating across the room; but, somehow, he also walks like he's heavy.  It makes you look, then stare. 

            But it wasn't until Dom was making his way over towards the bookshelf, that I saw it.  It was resting around his ring finger on his left hand; a gold, plainly designed, wedding ring.

            "You're married?"  My question sorted blurted itself out; I didn't have time to sensor myself, or even consider if asking that question was breaking some type of barrier.  His walking stops abruptly and an apology is right on my lips.  "I'm so sorry, I didn't-"  But he wasn't angry; his facial features hadn't hardened and he hadn't snapped at me.

            He runs his thumb along the ring, causing it to twist around his finger.  With his right hand, he pulls it off gently and holds it up to the light.  "No, not anymore, I'm not."  My mouth spread apart as he continued his journey to the bookshelf; and even though his back was towards me and he couldn't see me getting ready to talk, he answered.  "Terminal cancer," He states.  "She passed away this May."

            My heart actually broke.  I could feel my chest beginning to hurt as Dominic kept his back to me.  May was literally two months ago.  And for someone who had just lost a loved one, Dom was holding it together fairly well.

            "She always had health issues, and I knew that when I married her," Dominic walks back to his desk with a book in his hands.  He plops down in his seat, rests to book at his side, and looks to me.  "We got married when she turned 22."

            "A week or so later," He continues, "She was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  The hardest part about that, was watching her die and I couldn't do anything.  Slowly, but surely..." Dominic bows his head, "She couldn't feed herself at one point, I had to do it.  She could hardly get out of bed and she couldn't even go to the bathroom without my help."  Dom sighs, "And, the worst part I think was, was trying to be the strong one; the one there to comfort her when she cried.  She cried herself to sleep every night."

            I sit still, watching Dominic pick at his curly tips.  He keeps his head bowed, but his voice is loud.  "She always told me she didn't want to die a painful death and for months that was my prayer," He says, "I would pray every night, every night that she wouldn't die screaming and crying." Dom runs his hands down his face as he looks back up.  "We fell asleep one night, and um... I woke up around 2:30 to check on her and...she wasn't...she wasn't breathing."

            I was preparing myself to stand up and give this poor man a hug, but his door bursts open seconds later and a group of five or so men march in.  I stand up quickly as they come around the front of Dominic's desk.

            "Where the hell is Luciano?"

            "He's out, what do you need?"  Dom wipes his hand across his face, wiping his unfallen tears. 

            All of the men look quite similar in all honesty.  They were tall, at least 6'0, possibly taller.  Their suits looked expensive.  The thickest man drops a manila folder on Dominic's desk.

            "We need you, or Liam, to sign off on this hit we're about to pull off."

            "A hit?"  Dom pulls the folder to his chest and opens it, flipping through the contents.  His facial expressions don't identify any form of emotion as he rests the folder down.  He pulls out a pen, signs his name with flourish, before closing it and sending it back to the group of men.  "Tell me how it goes, gentlemen." 

            The door was closed for an easy couple seconds before Dominic finally turns back to me.  I'm finally able to speak up.  "I'm sorry for you loss, Mr. Santiago."

            "I appreciate your condolences, Ms. Crawford."

            I point at him, nodding while I do so.  "I like how you talk, it's...it's..."  My voice fades as I stumble to find a word.

            Dom assists me, "Proper?"

            "That's it!"

            He chuckles as he pulls himself to his feet, adjusting the bottom of his suit jacket.  He tucks his tie back into his suit, fixing it.  He curls his finger towards the door and calls for me to follow.  I do as I'm told.

            I reach the door first, pulling it open; but it lodges itself on something and no matter how hard I pull, it doesn't budge.  "Why is the-"  But when I look up, Dominic has a hand on the top of the door, and when I look down, he has a foot blocking the door from opening.

            He leans over me, "As long as you are in my presence, you won't ever open another door."

            I smile.  "Sorry."  He chuckles and pulls the door open the rest of the way.  I step out first, waiting for him to follow.  He leads us in the direction we're going.  "What else do I need to know about you?" I tease.

            Dominic was smiling before he even turned around.  We were at the end of the hallway and the only direction we could go was right.  I come to a complete stop as he chuckles once again, deeply.  "I'm trilingual." 

            "Oh really? What languages?"

            "Italian, Proper English, and Ebonics." 

            Without another word, he disappears to my right, leaving me with a smile on my face.

            I like this guy.

- - - -

            I don't like this guy.

            "You need to understand something, I don't run," I was attempting to explain this un-fathomable concept to Dominic, but he wasn't quite grasping it; "Ask my friends, if I – Faith Crawford – is seen running, then you better run to because something is chasing me."

            Dominic lets out a laugh as he stands in the driveway of Luciano's home.  A Cold, chilling, miserable, steady rain pelts his rain jacket as he extends his arms.  I wrap my arms around my upper body and shake my head no. 

            "Do you even exercise?"

            "If finding motivation for 5 minutes after seeing a Jillian Michael's workout commercial, then attempting to do squats – where, in reality – on the third squat, you find yourself struggling to stand by up.  In turn, heading to the kitchen to grab a cupcake and plopping back down on the sofa and not moving for the rest of the day is considered exercise, then yes, I exercise."  I take a deep breath after rambling out my spiel with no pauses.

            Dom just looks at me like I have three heads and two noses.  "Yeah, okay, we're running."  And any other day, I probably would've held up my argument – but I wasn't about to stay in this house while he left.  So, I did something my mother never thought I would ever do – I ran.

            We hardly talked at all; the only time Dominic actually said anything, was once we exited Liam's driveway and turned left down the dirt road.  He pointed in that direction and said, "Let's head that way," And that was about it.  I felt like a student going to get her driver's license, and Dom was the intimidating, non-talkative person beside you.  He just shouted out directions and said nothing else.  In a way, I was okay with it.

            After running for fifty years-

            "It's been fifteen minutes, Faith," Dom pushes his hoodie off of his head as he shoots me a playful glare.  I just smile and giggle pathetically as he pushes open a gate, signaling I go before him.

            "Oops, did I say that out loud?"

            I, too, push the hoodie of my borrowed rain jacket off my head.  The sun was still hiding behind a vast majority of clouds, but the rain had slowed to a steady drizzle.  As I looked up, I was greeted by nothing but grave stones and future plots of loved ones.  Dominic continues to walk, I don't.

            "If you're planning to rape me and throw me in one of these holes-"

            "Oh, hey, it's our motherfucker." 

            I glance up and away a Dominic, only to see Rico heading towards us.  I couldn't help but glance over his outfit; jeans, sneakers he didn't mind getting muddy, a black shirt and jacket that was unzipped.  Him and Dominic stop walking once they reach each other.

            "Liam is up on the hill, talking with one of the grave-site people," Federico speaks loud and clear.  Dom nods and turns to me.

            "You'll be okay?"

            "Yeah," I nod.

            He turns and bounds up the hill, before disappearing.  Rico walks just a bit to me, before holding out his hand.  I eye it with caution.

            "When did you become a gentlemen?"  I take one wrong step and almost slip down in the mud below.  Rico grabs hold of me, a hand on my arm.

              "Hah," He laughs as we begin to make our way up the hill.  His hand stays locked on the back of my arm, steadying myself as we continued to walk.  "I've always been a gentlemen, but that dick over there is making me look bad."

            I let out a laugh, "Are you jealous of Dominic?"

            Rico doesn't respond.  Instead, he switches the topic, "I thought you told Liam about me kissing you?  I didn't want him to get mad," He says, and I could've sworn I heard an apologetic tone in his voice, as if he was sorry for what he did.  "It really meant nothing, I was just trying to get a reaction from you.  I don't want him to hate me," He lets out a breath of air.

            "Liam can't hate you; you two are like brothers."

            Rico pulls my arm, causing me to stop once we reach the top of the hill.  A church is stationed to my right; it's white and small, with a steeple on the top of it.  To the left, is where all the graves start.  The view would've been gorgeous as they all sat on a grave, facing where the sun would rise – but because of the rain and foggy weather, it was impossible to see the beauty of it. 

            "Yes," Federico nods, "But they're like brothers too."

            "You sound jealous."

            "I'm not jealous,"

            "Mmm oh my g-"

            Rico grips my arm tighter, but I don't yelp in pain; I let out a loud laugh.  My laugh is so loud in fact that I can see Liam and Dominic looking over towards me, including the employee Luciano seemed to be talking to.  He pulls me closer to him, before finally letting go and sighing. 

            "Rico, what is this? Keeping Up With The Kardashians? There's no need for this drama.  I'm sure Liam has a lot of brother's.  You, William, Dom-"

            "Oh god," Rico groans, "You're calling him Dom too."

            I let out another laugh.  It was funny seeing Rico get so worked up over another guy.  "Federico, in all seriousness, you and him seemed to get along last night," He nods, "Besides, if you actually got to know him, you would know he isn't-"

            "-just a guy with really nice hair?"

            "Sure, yeah," I nod in agreement. 

            "Hey, I missed you," We join Dominic and Liam.  Luciano sidles up to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.  I mumbled back an appropriate response as Liam raised a hand to the employee and waved, "Thank you so much for your help today," Luciano says.  The employee nods and heads back into the building.  Rico and Dominic walk ahead of us as Liam slows his walk.  "I wanted to speak with you, about a few things."

            "Sure, go ahead."

            "Not here," He shakes his head, "Maybe over dinner?" 

            We walk a bit longer, before stopping in front of a grave.  The hole seems to have been freshly dug and a tombstone had yet to be placed before the hole of dirt.  Liam steps in between the two men, letting his arm drop to his side. 

            "You see this hole here?"

            Rico nods, Dominic grunts a response, and I whisper a 'yeah'.

            "This is Michael Luciano's grave," Liam is already backpedaling by the time we all look up at him, eyes wide.  He points to Rico, "Now we just wait for Fantasma to put him in there."  Luciano smiles before turning and heading back the way we came. 

            "I think he just gave you the greenlight," Dominic smiles, addressing Rico.  Federico nods, a slow smile crossing his face.

            "Yeah, yeah he did."

            The three of us were still managing to catch up to Luciano once we exited the cemetery.  He slowed to a stop and allowed us to do so, before we continued our journey.  Liam and I had repositioned ourselves in the back, allowing Dominic and Rico to argue about something petty in the front. 

            Liam was whispering something about how I slept in my ear when I heard it. 

            We all heard it.

            It was the same piercing shrill that I had experienced the other night.  It came from Liam's house, echoing past the trees and vast fields.  Dom stopped and turned to Liam, an eyebrow perched upwards.  He quickly pulls out his phone, a serious expression on his face as he shoves the phone in Luciano's face.

            The phone displayed a text message that read four words.

            The cops are here.

            And I had this sick feeling that they were here, for me.

- - - -

            A/N: Hahhhh I'm sorry for the cliffy again! Yes, there will be more Fiam moments to come; but I did like the way this chapter played out. I hope you all enjoyed it!

            Opinions on Dominic?  - I like writing his character.

            Would you like to see more of him? (Dom)

            Why are the cops at Luciano's door?!

            General comments on the chapter?