"Here."

He tipped his glass so the lawyer could fill it with whiskey. He needed something strong for whatever they were going to discuss.

"Have you gone through the note?" Alvaro asked quietly and Tobias shook his head.

"I have. That's not why we are here, Alvaro." They simultaneously turned to face Luca who already had his arm in a sling after being absent in the meeting.

The meeting he had with his men was gloom. They were pissed because of the death of another member and had their minds set on revenge.

Tobias who would want nothing more than to set a living and breathing Berlusconi and Christopher Davis on fire had to plead with them to calm down.

They all had to think things through.

"Well, for starters, I don't think they have the same tech that we have." Franco had said, looking very funny with a plastic bag covering his hair. It was obvious he was trying out a new colour... or colours.

"Why'd you say so?"

"This isn't like Eisenfaust when almost all our movements and calls were tracked, right?" He started.

"If it is, we wouldn't know but they aren't exactly making use of the information they get."

"But they know where we live so that's something, right?"

"We haven't been discreet and have you seen this house?"

"Maybe they get their info from the news or something?"

"I dunno, I haven't seen anything."

"But Alvaro made the news last time. Something about a hot lawyer on Gillian's case."

"A hot lawyer?"

"Yeah, you should check it out. It's a bit viral."

"It was on E! News, don't stress."

"Even better. You think Ryan Seacrest likes Latinos?"

"I don't— Wait, aren't you with that English woman?"

"Uh?"

"Uh."

"As I was saying!" Franco cut them off, flustered.

Unlike Tobias who had lost interest in the conversation the moment Alvaro had open his mouth, Franco was interested in getting the spotlight back at him.

"Keep talking Franco. Make sure you send me the link to that news." Alvaro quickly added.

All the while, he had been avoiding Tobias's gaze.

"Thank you." The man quickly collected himself and sat back down to address them. "I think this is an inexperienced group. They don't have the resources like us."

"So they're a new group?" Tobias had thought the same a while ago but with the way he had seen Giovanni carry himself, his poise was not that of a wannabe mafia.

"I think so. Should I check if they're has been mentions of it in the past?" Franco asked Tobias and he nodded.

He would put some calls in with his 'business partners' if they've heard of Giannini or Giovanni.

"So what's next after all this? Anthony's already gone. What do we do about him?" Diego asked, bringing up muttering from the group.

"Well, my grandfather used to say; An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—"

"A life for a fucking life, Al Pacino, 1989."

"You're a fucking idiot, Franco. It was Don Alejo."

~~~

"You said you saw him where?" Tobias asked, looking at Luca who fidgeted in his seat. He glanced over to Alvaro who for some reason had been sporting red eyes since the meeting.

It was obvious he was high.

"At a club in Dubai. He was about to get into his car when I saw him." He answered, quietly.

"And that was a week ago?" He asked again and Lucado nodded. The boy had been on the other side of the world less than 7 days ago and even he did not know.

He wondered what other things had happened in the family that he did not know about.

"So you're telling me—" Alvaro started in a purring tone. Definitely high. He readjusted himself on the window sill, making Tobias roll his eyes.

There were at least vacant seats.

"-that this bastard-" Luca flinched at the term. "-was in Dubai last week while he was supposed to be studying in London?" Varo frowned as he got no reply and flexed his fingers, no doubt imagining them being wrapped around Luca's neck.

"That's the least of our worries, Alvaro. What's important is why they had to transport a decaying corpse across the world to send a message."

The note that had been kept in Anthony's mind had been giving him a headache.

"Like I wouldn't snap Giovanni's neck either way." He mumbled the last part.

The letter had warned him to give up Giovanni or he would face the consequences.

Tobias could not care any less.

"Did you not notice anything else? Like what he was doing?" He probed and Luca shook his head.

He was glad that he felt nothing but annoyance and all feelings of anger had dissipated.

He had no idea what was going on in Alvaro's mind though. He never knew what the lawyer was thinking.

"How can you follow him for three days straight and not know what he was up to?!" Alvaro snapped and the boy blanched.

"Calm down, Alvaro." Olegario merely mentioned from the far corner of the room. Tobias had almost forgot about him.

Apparently, Luca was just confessing everything to the doctor when Alvaro had barged in, attempting to murder him.

"Shut the fuck up, Lombardi." He snapped back making Tobias sigh.

He too was unhappy and aside from the activities between him and Eniola a few hours ago, he would have been livid.

"Okay, let's all calm down." He spoke up again, obviously tired from all the useless meetings. "After all this, we'll have the council decide whatever will happen to Luca. I refuse to cast my judgement." He said, gesturing at Luca to leave.

Tobias had blatantly ignored the law that required him to end Luca's life and he could see that no matter how quiet Alvaro was, he was the most displeased.

"What the fuck do you mean by 'no'?" Alvaro yelled at him in frustration.

He was not going to hurt Luca any more than he already did. He forced himself to believe what the boy had done was just out of ignorance and childish stupidity.

"No as in I am not going to judge Luca's case." He answered easily making Alvaro loudly scoff.

"Is it because you're his godfather or because of Felicio?" Rebecca asked quietly as she sat in the chair.

He had called her as well. He was not sure he was ready to tell any other member. Fortunately, she had taken the news fairly well.

"Both."

He was not going to make the same mistake that he made with Felipe.

"After we're done with Berlusconi, I'll arrange for the Council to investigate and judge. I'm not going to be a part of this jungle justice, Alvaro." He looked the lawyer dead in the eye.

The man was a completely different person when he was enraged. Just like Tobias.

"If that's what you think is right, Izan." At least one of them were in their right minds.

"Jefe-" He shut Varo up with a raise of his palm.

"Not now."

There was no one else in the room and they didn't have to pretend they were cool. He was hurt and deserved to act as petty as he liked.

He reached for his phone to search for a contact and smiled when he found what he was looking for. Kindo Chun Wang.

It was crazy how technology could just transport numbers to his different phones.

"Hello?" Varo's head turned towards the direction of the voice that rang from his phone.

"Hello, Wang? It is Tobias Ferna." He answered coolly, getting a loud laugh from the other line.

"Do my ears deceive me?!" The old man exclaimed heartily, forcing another smile on Tobias's lips.

It had been years since they talked. The man had invited Tobias to Shanghai a few times but for the sake of not complicating his and Esme's broken up relationship, he always declined.

That and well, he was one of the most introverted people in the world.

"They do not, old man. I called to say hello and ask a few questions." He said straightforwardly. Unfortunately, he did not have enough time to joke around.

"Ah, I knew you just couldn't call for leisure. It's always business for you Fernandez. Well, how can I help you?" The man asked lightly and Tobias sighed. Many things, old friend. Many things.

"Have you heard of Berlusconi?" He asked, listening in for any irregularities on the other line. He could see Varo was paying attention too.

"Uh, of course. I did business with them once." Chun Wang answered a while later. "I don't know the new leader well though. Or do I?"

If Tobias knew him well enough, he would say he was stroking his chin as he spoke.

"I think he's Gustavo Berlusconi?" Who?

"Who the fuck is Gustavo?" Alvaro asked exasperatedly. How many Berlusconis were there?

"Is that Varo Loco? Hello Varo Loco!" The man exclaimed.

"Hello, Chunky. Who's Gustavo?" He replied. He too was down for business.

"Uh, he's Vincenzo's kid." Tobias thought the name seemed familiar but decided to say nothing.

Lately, all the things that he seemed to recognize ended up being useless.

"I used to have a partnership with Vincenzo until well, he died. Gustavo only contacted me recently to discuss the relationship between me and his father and I think that was just it."

This Gustavo persona seemed so different from Giannini and Giovanni.

"The guy just wants to know about his father's methods. Taking over isn't that easy, you know?" Tobias knew that.

What he didn't know was how the other Berlusconis came into the picture.

"Do you know about Giannini?" Alvaro asked and Chun Wang hummed.

"Yeah sure, I think Vincenzo mentioned something about bastard kids? Him, Gio and one girl... Cadonna? I'm not sure."

Bastard kids?

"Maybe it's Catalina. My memory isn't too good." The man added. "I heard that the kids are going around causing trouble because daddy dearest gave everything to Gustavo."

"Well that settles it."

"What do you need this information for anyway?" The Chinese asked Tobias.

"Well, the kids as you put it are causing trouble for me. Nothing I can't handle." He answered and left it at that. It wasn't necessary to share such trivial issues with other mafias yet.

"Okay, Gato but if you need anything, just call me. I'll be more than happy to help."

"Thank you, Wang. Forward my greetings to Esme. Goodbye." He said courteously.

"Of course. Goodbye Varo!"

"Goodbye, Chunky!" The line immediately went dead. "Well, goddamn."

Now they had a couple of million names that were all connected.

"Don't talk to me." He reverted back to his childishness.

"Come on, Gato." Alvaro groaned, leaving the window to sit across from Tobias. "Let's talk this out."

"Ok." Alvaro was extremely lucky Tobias's anger didn't last for more than a few moments.

"I literally didn't know I had a kid until she turned a year old and I found out through a Instagram message."

How cute. I found out my best friend had a potential heir for the family while he was having a mental breakdown.

"Honestly, I just got a picture of the kid with a text saying 'It's Kai, this is oud daughter Hanifa. My father wants to see you.' and I was off to Saudi Arabia." Alvaro answered lightly, chuckling at whatever he had found funny.

"You get a text that you have a child and you go without seeing proof?" Tobias asked incredulously and Alvaro shrugged.

"Well, it was a really cute baby so that's enough proof. I mean, it's hard to go wrong with me." He said proudly making Tobias almost roll his eyes.

He was truly something else.

"And I had a one night stand in San Juan with the woman so I knew it was possible. What I didn't know was why she waited a year before letting me know." Varo answered.

Tobias's silence encouraged him to continue.

"So I get to Riyadh in Saudi and this random man who turns out to be her father, Al Bauba threatens to cut my balls off because I abandoned his daughter and my child.

"I try to reassure the man that I knew nothing about it and he goes on to say I have brought disgrace to their family and they even had to move to the capital because of the shame yada yada." Alvaro did air quotes as he said 'shame'.

"Okay?" Tobias asked, wondering where the story was leading to.

"They just let me spend a while with her before literally kicking me out of the country and threatening to kill me if I was a day late in sending child support. Honestly, I was fine with sending 10k every month because well, she's my child. I can't treat her badly because I chose to be irresponsible. It was the least I could do."

Tobias respected that Alvaro was at least making an effort to be there for child. It was out of his character to be so matured and accountable.

Although one thing bothered him.

"Why the sudden need to share all this with me?" He sighed and explained further when Alvaro raised a confused brow at him. "I mean, you haven't told me about her and kept her a secret for over two years. Why are you just telling me now?"

Alvaro seemed to think for a moment, his black fingernails tapping at the chair handles.

"Well, Kai is getting married in February, that's three months from now and she says her husband's family wants nothing to do with the kid." He replied. "So it's either she stays with her Al Bauba or Kai doesn't get married and Kai's parents want her to get married."

"So she's staying with her Kai's parents then?" He asked and Varo's hand went to the back of his head. Why was he suddenly so nervous?

"Not really..." He was looking at everywhere but Tobias.

The idiot was stalling.

"Then what is going to happen?" Tobias asked and Varo chuckled.

"I was hoping I could bring her to the Cuba to stay with me." Tobias could not help the laugh that escaped from him.

He abruptly stopped when he realized that the lawyer was extremely serious.

"Wait, you're not joking?" Varo seemed insulted by the question.

"No."

"So wait, give me a second to summarize this." He collected himself and sat properly on the seat he was about to fall out of. "So I have a vengeful child threatening my Fuego and the entire Tigre Herido, the same child that just killed Anthony and while trying to resolve this entire shit, you want to shove a baby into this mess?" He asked flatly and unsurprisingly, Alvaro nodded.

Fucking idiot.

"Look, I get that you feel bad and all but you cannot bring a child into this right now, it's too dangerous. I cannot be worrying over another person being shot to death and if the kid has had dinner, Alvaro." He tried to reason and the lawyer shrugged.

"I'll handle it."

"I wish I could believe that." He said before sighing. "Fuck I'm going to be an uncle."

Alvaro could hardly take care of a plant say less of another human being. Do three year olds till use diapers? Can they speak?

"You're accepting her?" He asked in surprise and Tobias kissed his teeth, still in thought. Why wouldn't he?

Yes, he was upset that Alvaro had kept the news from him but now he was sure that it wasn't a plan to take over or some sick type of Deja Vu.

"Bueno, no puedo mantenerte alejada de tu hija ahora, ¿verdad?" Well, I can't keep you away from your daughter now, can I?

"I guess you're right." Alvaro said, appreciation lacing his voice. "I do have a favour to ask, Tobias."

His eyes met Varo's suddenly serious ones.

"Ask away."

"I don't want her to be a part of El Tigre Herido. Let her be like Rebecca." Tobias watched his friend for a long time.

"You do know Rebecca is different?" He asked and Varo nodded. Who didn't know?

Rebecca could not take over because it was believed that she was dead —a plan devised by their father because of the sexist bastard he was. But if this was what Alvaro wanted, he would grant the wish.

"What if you have other children, Alvaro?"

"I don't think I will. I made a promise to Kai that I would protect her once she was in my custody. I may be fucked up but I always keep my word."

"What if she wants to join when she's older?" The question made Alvaro pause.

Surely he must have thought about it?

"Hopefully, I'd be dead by then."

Fuck, no.

"When would she be coming?" Tobias asked changing to a lighter topic. He could understand why Alvaro would not want Hanifa to get entangled with the entire mafia bullshit.

At that moment, all he could see was a father trying to build a safe future for his child. He didn't blame him. He couldn't.

He wondered if Alvaro would consider denouncing the family. It was going to be easily for all them if they really planned on keeping the entire thing secret and away from the child.

He would discuss that with him another day.

"Before Kai's wedding. The groom's family wants to be sure she's not going to play them." Jesus Christ, that's sudden.

"So in late December or early January?" He questioned and Varo nodded. "Is she going to stay with you in Cuba or Puerto or Spain?"

He knew Alvaro was never the one to stay at a single place. The man could be in Cuba today, France tomorrow and Jamaica the following week.

"Cuba or something. I think I'll take a few months off so I can figure something out. I don't really have a reason to work." He answered. The man was really making sacrifices.

"You could come to Spain. I've been thinking about to go back to the estate in Cadiz after I'm done here. Pay more attention to the family and finally leave the business to Rebecca.

"If we're all there, I could keep an eye on Hanifa for you." He suggested making Alvaro smile a bit.

It was his ten year plan since he asked Enny that afternoon. America did not thrill him anymore.

"I'll think about it. Thank you, Gato." He could tell he was being genuine. Alvaro was everything but deceitful.

"You're always welcome." He smiled back.

He and the lawyer had truly been through a lot.

"Now let's talk about Gustavo. The quicker we handle this Berlusconi shit, the sooner you get to see your kid."

~~~