He woke from his sleep with a small gasp. The events in his dream had left him in cold sweat even with how cold the room was.

Why was it so intense? He thought.

It was frighteningly similar to what had happened the night before but this time, it was a little too bold.

The details of the dream burned into his brain as cupped his entire face with his hands. He could still feel the heat from their bodies. He could still feel her writhing in pleasure under and on top of him.

Fuck, I'm done for.

He stretched to see she was still asleep on the bed which was good. If he hadn't opted to sleep on the floor, he did not think he would have been strong enough to reject her drunken advances.

She had passed out before their lips could even touch and he had to carry her to bed. Somehow, she had woken up, looking at him almost longingly as he took off his shirt.

"I want to take mine off too. Why can't I?" She whined tugging at the pink Hoodie she had stolen from him.

He held it in place, not sure he wanted to still figure out if she had anything underneath it.

"If you were not drunk out of you mind, I would have considered it." He said and she pouted.

"Even if I was not drunk, you would still say the same thing." She was right and he knew it, but still...

"Can I trust you to still be dressed and hopefully asleep when I return from the bathroom?" He asked, finally letting go her when she nodded with a grin.

"Can I join you?"

"No." Her smile died instantly.

"But why?! Would you prefer Chun Wang to join you then?" She asked, not bothering to hide the envy lacing her voice.

He paused to look at her. He did not think he had told her about Esmeralda.

"How did you know about Esme?" She shrugged and drew closer to him.

"A little birdie..." Her attention shifted the tattoos on his chest -that was at her eye level.

"Does that little birdie happen to be Alvaro?" She merely nodded at his question, her hands shamelessly grazing over his chest... Right above the 'sand' tattoo.

"If I would get another tat, it would be this one." Her nails felt good against his skin and he felt himself wanting more when she stopped. Wait—

"Another?" He did not know she had any ink.

"Yes. I have just one, right above my ass. Wanna see?" Her glossy eyes beamed with lust and amusement as her fingers found his.

"Tempting offer, yes." He untethered his hands from hers when he realized she was leading him to the hems of the sweater. "We might revisit the subject when your impulses are not alcohol driven."

Her frown deepened even further and he expected her to scream at him again but she didn't.

"So you'll see my ass when I'm not drunk?" She asked, teasing him. He caught her hands again when they began wandering to his lower body.

"You're drunk, Fuego. Please just lie down and sleep." He pleaded and she playfully rolled her eyes.

"You're so hot when you're being all reasonable." She said, slowly licking her bottom lip. He did not know why she looked so submissive while he locked both of her wrists in his grip.

He shook the thought away.

"Bed, Eniola. Now." Her biting her lips was not the reply he expected.

"Anything for you da-"

"Do not even complete that sentence!" He exclaimed shaking the lewd thoughts away.

"Fuck, I'm wet."

He pretended to be deaf at that moment and just pulled her towards the bed.

"Acuéstate, Fuego." Lie down. He said and she eventually complied.

She sighed and began to crawl on the bed, the oversized Hoodie rose dangerously high and he averted his eyes.

She really had nothing underneath.

He tucked her in while she yawned in tiredness.

"I love you, Izan." She said sleepily. "I want you to fuck me and I love you."

"Of course you do, Fuego. Of course you do."

He knew he would never let her drink too much again.

But that dream...

He groaned into his pillow as her moans played repeatedly in his head. She was going to kill him.

"Tobias, please..."

"You have to be a lot louder than that, Fuego..."

He didn't want to think about the rest but the dream had already been burned into his memory. Her curves, her moans, the wet sounds when they-

He was finished. He already knew the dream would haunt him endlessly. And I thought Varo was the perverted one.

Varo— Fuck!

His sexual frustration immediately turned to panic. Had Luca already told Alvaro what he did? He did not think he could stomach the thought of the boy being hurt.

He can't—He had a job to do.

Tobias could only hope that Alvaro had gotten his message before Luca could tell him anything.

But he didn't reply... No.

He forced his instincts to believe that as long as Varo had not barged into the room screaming "what the fuck?" and holding a bloody Luca by the collar, he hadn't found out.

But again Tobias knew Alvaro had to know. He was not his second in command for nothing.

The continuous scrapping sound on the door eventually caught his attention and he got up to check it out. He immediately regretted it as pain shot through his spine. Sleeping on the bare floor wasn't one of his brightest ideas.

Ignoring the pain, he made his way to the door to see Eniola's cat, Cricket scratching on it.

"Hello Cricket." He greeted softly, squatting a little to pick her up. "How did you get in here?"

The beautiful kitten meowed at him and clawed at his elbow in stubbornness. She wanted to get down but he didn't want her too. She would wake up Eniola.

"Alright alright, I'll let you down outside and after we get something to eat." He soothed her by patting her on the head. "I know you haven't had any thing since last night and neither have I."

"Tobi? Are you talking to my cat?" Eniola called and suddenly groaned loudly. "Ah shit, my head is fucked."

"Of course it is. You were incredibly drunk last night." He watched as she stretched like her cat. Her beautiful eyes were red and tired. She would need more than a good sleep to help with the hangover.

"No shit. That vodka hits different."

He chuckled at her exaggeration and went to her.

With Cricket in his left arm, he checked her body temperature then took out a bottle of water and aspirin from the dresser. He sighed at the sight of the gun then closed the drawer. It was not his most pleasant memory.

"Thank you." Eniola replied as she collected the drugs from him. She gestured at him to sit with her and ignoring the small whine from Cricket, he does.

She lightly rubbed Cricket's head and the small creature shied away from her touch.

"Oh, fuck off."

Tobias could see that she was not the closest with her pet. He had a feeling it would be different with him.

"I hope I did not do anything stupid last night." She asked and he shrugged. Telling her all she had all done would either embarrass her or make her tease him even more.

"I just helped you go to bed. That's all." Well, you had repeatedly asked me to sleep with you and to push your arguments, you slept with no underwear.

"That's boring. You sure we didn't do anything that made me lose my panties?" She asked casually, taking a sip from her water. He would have choked on it if it were him.

Collecting himself, he shook his head.

"No, we did nothing. I would never take advantage of you." He assured her and she nodded, her red eyes resting on his.

"I know."

He was glad her gaze held no judgement or doubt. It was amazing how blindly she trusted him. He hoped he would never disappoint her.

"You should go back to sleep. I'll get you something to eat." He answered after a while. He had been watching her doze in and out of consciousness. Her beautiful eyes watched him in mild confusion for a moment then nod drowsily.

He planted for a chaste kiss on her forehead, admiring her calm features for a moment. She looked beautiful when she was not trying to seduce him or start a fight.

The noise from the living room was just enough to get him irritated as he passed by. The idiots were already up and were focused on some fighting show on the television.

"Morning Don Ferna." Diego greeted without even glancing at him, the man was vigorously cleaning an already spotless gun. The gold casing shimmered in the bright light to prove his point. His men were vain, materialistic and obnoxious.

"Morning Charcota. What are you people watching?" He asked casually, not really caring. Seeing grown men wrestling in underwear disturbed him.

His question caught the attention of the Xavier, Benicio and Romelu. They had been focusing on the match.

"I have no idea." Xavier mumbled. "Morning, Jefe." He nodded at the architect. He seemed busy as he sat criss-crossed on the floor, hunching over a bunch of drawing paper.

He was on another project.

Tobias quietly left the group to their business. Cricket's whining had become worse too.

Unmistaken, he found Alvaro in the kitchen and with the least expected guest, Vittore.

"Hola, Don Ferna." Vittore greeted quietly as he ate a bowl of cereal, making Varo look away from whatever it was that he was cooking.

"Morning, gorgeous." He didn't do as much at bat an eyelash at Varo's jab as the man flipped the pancakes in the pan. Luckily, Varo had made enough for at least five people.

He was glad because he would have something to eat and that Varo's good mood meant Luca was probably safe.

But knowing Varo, Luca could be dead and buried somewhere and the psychopath would still grin.

He hoped Luca was fine.

As he searched for some sardines in the refrigerator, he heard a muffled sneeze escape Alvaro.

He had forgotten the lawyer was allergic to cats.

"Fuck, you brought that thing in here." He grumbled moving to the sink to blow his nose.

Tobias hurried to scoop out the fish and some milk for Cricket and kept her in the hallway. Hopefully, that was far enough. He didn't want her to wander too far.

He watched as the feline munched at the fish and he felt bad. The poor thing was so hungry.

By the time he went back to the kitchen, Vittore was nowhere to be found, much to his satisfaction and Alvaro was leaning on the counter, smoking a cigarette and listening to the eggs cook.

"You look like a Hobbit." Was the first thing Varo said as he stepped back into the kitchen, his brown eyes shamelessly hovering over Tobias. "A hot one."

He looked at his cream coloured nightwear and laughed. It was true.

"Why are you cooking for the entire house?" He asked as he went behind Varo to snag a pancake.

"It's for me and Clara. Make your own food." Varo complained but Tobias had already eaten two of it.

"I'll need a plate for Eniola as well. She's beyond hungover." He said, wiping his hands with the kitchen rag. He needed to have enough space for the eggs.

Varo said nothing in response but brought out four plates.

"Why are you making food for Clara anyway?" Tobias asked, looking for a way to break the ice. Something seemed to be bothering his best friend.

The man was never so quiet. He watched as he frowned at the dishes and slowly poured the eggs.

"Well, I kept her up until 3 so it's the least I can do." Varo eventually answered and shrugged as he served Tobias who gratefully thanked him.

"What were you doing 'til 3?" He asked curiously. He lightly wondered if Varo had finally bedded with her.

"We just drove around. Fortunately, Twilight did not have a showtime. She won't admit she enjoyed LOTR though." He raised his brow at the faint smile ghosting Varo's lips. Oh?

"Is that all that happened?" He probed and Varo nodded. "Not even a little kiss?"

"She had popcorn breath. I hate popcorn." Varo said and Tobias laughed. He never understood why of all foods, corn was what Alvaro loathed the most.

"Hm. Are you alright Varo?" Tobias asked carefully as he took a bite of the mildly over-seasoned eggs.

Varo's Latino roots were obvious even in his cooking.

"Do you think things would have been different if there was no Tigre Herido?" He suddenly asked and Tobias paused. Was this what was worrying him?

"If there was no Tigre Herido, I'd probably be an English or Literature professor in Oxford or something and you'd be better off on Vogue magazine covers and Paris fashion weeks." He answered making Varo nod, an odd glint in his eyes.

He always thought about what life without mafia ties would be like. It just surprised him that Varo did as well.

The man had always seemed to enjoy the thrill and fast life.

"Is there a problem, Alvaro?" He asked and Varo sighed.

"No se, hermano." I don't know, brother. Tobias watched him for a second longer before returning to his food.

Alvaro seemed to have some difficulty in sharing his problem and he was in the exact same position.

"Now, what's the problem?" It was Varo's turn to ask.

Tobias tried to shake it off like nothing was wrong but Varo shook his head, waving a fork at him.

"Don't do that, handsome. I know you're hiding something when you say more than five words at a time." He taunted, a teasing smile dancing on his lips.

"You won't tell me what is wrong with you but you expect me to share my problem?" Tobias asked and Varo nodded.

"Exactly, I'm literally your shadow. What's bothering you? You need me to kill off Vittore? I have a few ideas." Varo said like he was discussing the weather.

"Speaking of which, how's Robert?" Tobias just remembered the man.

"Unalived." Varo answered, not skipping a bit. "I let him off easy, really."

Tobias chose not to push the subject and decided to tell Varo what his problem was.

"Anthony is dead." Varo barely reacted at the news, the only evidence that showed that the news affected him was the way he froze for a moment then continued eating.

"Bolognese?" He asked after a while and Tobias frowned in confusion.

"Who?"

"Sorry, Berlusconi?"

"Oh, it's fine. I called him Burrito for like a week because I kept forgetting his name." Tobias joked and they both shared a short laugh with Alvaro returning to the subject.

"So Anthony is dead?" Tobias nodded, gauging Varo's reaction. "That's sad." The Cuban too sighed as he pushed his food away to reach for a cigarette.

There it was, the classic stressed Alvaro.

"And Luca killed him, yes?"

The calmness of his voice made Tobias heart leap to his throat.

"I—" It would have made no difference if Alvaro did not interrupt him. He did not know what to say.

He knew Alvaro could be extremely intelligent but he did not want him to piece it together that easily. He wanted to stall for as long as possible.

"And you hesitated to tell your second in command because you think that Varo Loco would tear your precious godson in half?" The bite in Varo's voice was difficult to ignore.

He could sense hurt and an underlying amount of rage boiling beneath the tone.

"You wanted me to go finish off Rob to save Luca? The idiot watched me leave as I spared him an extra night to live?" It seemed like Varo was talking to himself at this point.

The food did not look mildly as appetizing anymore.

The tension in the room only grew worse when Alvaro sneezed. His eyes flying to Cricket at the door.

"GET THAT THING OUT OF HERE BEFORE I FUCKING SHOOT IT!" Varo boomed, the cat immediately sprinting outside before Tobias could even get up.

He cautiously watched as the lawyer inhaled and exhaled.

"Do you know how stupid I feel right now?" His voice cracked at the end.

"Alvaro..."

"We'll have this conversation when he's no longer breathing." Varo was up and out of the kitchen before Tobias could blink.

"Alvaro!" The man already had a gun out, matching towards the staircase.

Tobias feared this would happen. He feared Alvaro would be to upset to listen to him.

"WHERE'S THAT BASTARD?!" The commotion quickly woke up the remainder of the house drawing the wrong attention from them.

Even Clara gasped as she saw Varo storm past her. Tobias merely blocked her from trying to follow them. "Not now, dear."

She would not like seeing him in that mood.

"Alvaro! Wait a moment!" His pleas landed on deaf ears as the man practically kicked the door down, revealing a mildly startled Olegario talking to Luca.

"Varo, what are you doing-" The gunshot rang throughout the room as Alvaro pulled the trigger.

Luca's eyes widened as he looked at the bullet hole on his bedframe, millimeters from his head.

"ALVARO—" Multiple gunshots rang as Alvaro shot mindlessly at the boy, missing every shot... Except the one that caught his shoulder.

He fell from the bed with a groan at the same Tobias tackled Alvaro to the ground as he struggled to collect the gun from him.

"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE. DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" He pitied Varo for a moment as he caught a glimpse of his teary eyes.

"If I tell you to wait, you fucking wait."

Successfully collecting the gun from him, he looked outside to see most of his men watching them wordlessly, Olegario surprisingly calm at his desk.

"Miguel, get Luca out of here." He said as calmly as possible, keeping his eyes on Alvaro who he still held painfully to the floor. He was sure he would have bruises later. "All of you, leave."

The room was emptied out before they knew it, with only their haggard breaths filling it.

"Are you calm enough?" He asked quietly and Varo shook his head.

"Just get off of me. You're fucking heavy." He said with a strained voice. He was trying to hide the pain in his voice.

"Tell me you're calm."

Varo remained quiet for a few minutes, his hard gaze on Tobias before he exhaled and nodded.

Tobias fulfiled his wish and got off of him. He locked the door, making sure to show Alvaro that there was no escaping the conversation and discarded the bullets of the gun.

He knew Alvaro would never hurt him yet, it was better safe than sorry.

Tobias frowned at the sting in his arm as he turned to face Alvaro who found the floor more interesting and he thought nothing more of it. They would both have bruises.

"You almost killed him, Alvaro." He started softly as he watched the man frown and tug at his hair. The usually sleek bun was now a disheveled mess on his head.

"I noticed." Alvaro grumbled.

"Varo we cannot keep doing this."

"Of course we can. I'd rather end every member of the Nero family than let them hurt you." Tobias's heart chilled at how far his friend was willing to go through with his old promise.

"He said he did not know."

"Yeah, like Felicio didn't know that shooting you in the fucking stomach would kill you." He spat angrily.

"You didn't let me finish—"

"Don't you get it? There's no fucking excuse for killing another family member."

"And you're willing to do it?"

"For you, yes."

He sighed sadly as Alvaro was still unable to meet his eyes.

His friend was hurting. He could feel it.

"I'm so fucking tired." Alvaro said, the break in his voice obvious again. "I'm fucking tired." His soft sleeve quickly ran over his eyes.

Tobias watched Alvaro's mini-breakdown with an ache in his eyes. It pained him that he knew why his friend was that way.

He was the only one that knew what Varo had done and Varo in turn was the only breathing person that knew what he had done.

To the best of his knowledge, they were all they had.

"Alvaro, I am sorry—"

"Clara hasn't eaten yet." Varo commented quietly. "I hope she sees her food in the microwave. I wrote her name."

Tobias sent a quick text to Clara to tell her about it and also to wake up Eniola. If the noise hadn't already done that job.

"You know, I dreamt of Felicio today. When I tried to sleep. It was like the bastard was waiting for me to close my eyes." Varo started. "How can a dead person be so stubborn? Do you see Don Fernandez too?" He asked and Tobias hesitated before nodding.

It was useless to lie to Alvaro.

"You think they're punishing us for something? They both had valid reasons to die."

Tobias agreed with him. They deserved their death, yes. But it did not mean they did not have consciences.

He shook his head at the thought. Varo got the short end of the stick. He saw Felicio in Luca every single day and he on the other hand, could hardly remember what his father looked like.

Ole had said something about selective memory. He had tried so hard to convince himself he did nothing wrong and fortunately, his brain completely agreed.

"I have a kid, Tobias."

Tobias did not know what shocked him the most; the fact that Alvaro had just told about a child or that he called him by his name.

"Sorry?"

"Her name is Hanifa. She's like the most beautiful person." Alvaro laughed quietly at his peril, his red eyes resting on Tobias's shocked ones.

"What?" He asked breathlessly. He never expected that.

"She's turning three next month. Boxing day. A day after you."

"What?"

"Yeah, Hanifa means like angel or beauty or something. I don't know, her mother and grandfather named her." Varo still seemed to be in his own world.

"Alvaro, what the fuck?" He finally snapped out of his daze as he stopped talking. He didn't understand what Varo was raving about.

"Uh, surprise?" Varo said, nervous laughter leaving him. Tobias knew the laugh well enough.

"Why am I just finding out?"

Varo's silence only proved his suspicions correct.

"Don't tell me—" Tobias said quietly as he turned on his heels. "You fucking bastard."

After all that had happened between them, he did not expect this to be the breaking point. It felt worse than Luca's betrayal.

Before he left the room, he said;

"The gun is on Ole's table. After killing Luca, shoot yourself as well."

~~~

I'll say it again, Varo is my favourite trauma baby.