Matteo

"The Ricci family in the east has arranged a ball for all allies. We have been invited." Vincent said.

A playful chuckle escaped the lips of the consigliere, the second in command, Reggie, as the took a dramatic drag of his cigar. "The Ricci family are only our allies because of the help they received from us. They are indebted to us. Teste di merda." (shitheads)

As merciless as Matteo was, Reggie never liked the idea of gaining allies who were as pathetic as the Ricci family. Their mafia have made plenty of mistakes, always running to Matteo when they were in debt. It was sickening to see weak members of the mafia being allied with them.

Matteo was as cruel and vile as the rest of them, maybe even worse than what they were yet he always believed in giving people a chance. The only catch was, misuse the second chance and he would won't be as merciful as he was to even give a second chance.

That was what made Matteo a fierce leader.

Vincent looked over at his friend. "You have never liked the Ricci family. It's understandable since their daughter refused to go on a date with you."

In a blink of an eye, the sound of glass shattering has resounded in the room causing everything to quiet down. At the end of the room lied shards of glass that was thrown by Reggie, aimed at Vincent who has been laughing at his friend.

Reggie snarled at him. "Stai zitto. Non mancherò la prossima volta." (Shut up. I will not miss next time.)

"Nonsense fratello." Vincent said in a sing song voice, a voice known all too well in a tone of mockery. "You and I both know you just have bad aim."

Reggie began arguing back and that's when Matteo thought he had enough of listening to their bickering, since it was a daily routine for the two of them to argue. Matteo silently sat in his chair, staring at his glass filled with a bronze colored substance of his favorite drink, when his mind wondered to a certain little person in his restaurant.

She has been invading his every thought ever since their meeting on the night at the park. His dampened mood from the rivalry of his brother had made him never minded of the little girl who spoke to him that night. He hadn't remembered her clearly, the distant memory was a petite girl standing in front of him but now he has seen her.

She was so small.

Matteo was not one to spare a glance at the opposite gender, ever since he was little it was imprinted in his brain to never focus on women. His father had him learn that women are conniving individuals who uses men to meet their needs, their financial needs. He was told at a young age that women have the power to manipulate men to benefit from them, which was why he listened to his father.

He had seen the way his mother treated his father. It had him realize that he was not to trust women, beside the women in his family. There was not an ounce of trust for the opposite gender in Matteo.

Matteo remembered her words from that night. He had thought about how it was incredibly stupid for a girl like her to want to converse with a man like him, especially at night. He had to admit that he did not look at all approachable with the manner in which his face was void of any expression.

How she mustered up the courage to talk to him was something he could not understand.

It was clear as day that she was someone who did not watch the news. The Morreti family was one of the most well known Italian families in all of America, ever since his great grandfather had infiltrated Sicily. It was known that the members of the mafia were people you would not want to talk to knowing they thrive on crime.

Aurora.

He leaned back in his chair and thought about her. Aurora was just an ordinary girl, an annoying one at that. After seeing her clearly a while ago when she had her lips wrapped around her straw, he saw her which made his hazy memory of her clear.

Such innocence was rare for Matteo and he couldn't help but want to know more about the little one.

"Ah la mia famiglia."

The three men looked over towards the person who had entered their secluded section of the restaurant. The cunning tone he knew all too well had soured his mood, making him lose his train of thought about Aurora.

"What do you want Chandler?" Vincent sighed as he took out his second cigarette for the day.

Chandler smiled at the three men sitting at the table situated in the centre of the room. "Gregory informed me that you three will be here at the restaurant. I have something to discuss with you."

Matteo knew already what it was that he wanted to speak about so before his cousin could dare utter another word, he said,

"Uscire." (get out)

Chandler's smile never faltered as his eyes now trailed over to his cousin. The level of respect he has for Matteo was sky high, never choosing to over step his boundaries between the boss and an associate like him. Even though he respected the capo of the mafia, Chandler hated everything there was to this man.

There had always been bad blood between the two of them. With Matteo having control over the mafia, it sparked a massive sense of hatred toward him from his cousin.

"We haven't seen each other for so long. What's a little catching up,eh?"

"Oh piss off. We all know your true intentions and just like the last time, it's still a no." Reggie said.

"I wasn't talking to you." he snarled. "You lost two men last night, isn't that right?"

Matteo gritted his teeth at the memory of his two men that had fallen right in front of his eyes. They were a poor excuse of what a mafia man should be like, they weren't even associates yet they managed to screw up one shipment. Not being able to sniff out a suspicious order was low class for Matteo, it was a job a dog could do better than those men.

Their loyalty was respected by the capo, yet their screw up had cost them two men down and a loss of a lot of money.

Chandler scoffed. "I could have expected something like that to happen ever since you became capo."

Matteo leaned forward, applying pressure on his knees by situating his elbows on them. His dark eyes were locked on his cousin who's smile has yet to be wiped off.

"What are you implying?" he asked his cousin.

Chandler picked up the silver knife that was on the table. His eyes ever so focused on the knife and Matteo watched how his eyes shimmered with hints of mischief. Eyes of a psychopath that he would want to gauge out at any second if he could.

"Your men are weak. Just like you." he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, making sure to add a little shoulder movement.

Vincent glared at him. "You better watch who you are talking to, ragazzo." (boy)

Chandler chuckled, but this time it was different. Gone was his playful attitude which resembled one of a child, and now all they could see was something strange. His true nature is on full display yet it frightened none of the men before him.

"I might be in the lower ranks amongst you three but I could control a mob of gangsters better than you could."

Reggie laughed. "You! Sei solo un cucciolo. What do you know about running a mafia?" (You're just a little puppy.)

"I am far more qualified to be apart of this mafia. I am ready for my rank to be raised a few bars higher." he protested.

"You are an associate because you are not prepared to be a part of the mafia." said Matteo.

Chandler slammed the knife into the table. His face darkened with the color of red as his anger began to boil. "I am ready!I have been training for over five years-"

"Chandler," Vincent said as he stood up," This conversation is over. It doesn't matter what you say, the capo's decision will stay the same."

He growled as he looked over to his cousin. "You only became capo because your pathetic excuse of a father was too weak to defend himself so-"

Chandler didn't even have time to finish what he wanted to say, let alone process what had happened. Without anyone realizing what Matteo had done, Chandler was thrown onto the floor, his head bashed against the cold tiles.

Matteo had drawn his gun once Chandler has mentioned his father, and now the pistol was resting on the side of his face. Pressed up against his head, the grip on the pistol's trigger was so firm that Matteo wanted nothing more than to pull it and kill the bastard. The stupid boy he had now under his grip had really tested him today and Matteo had enough of his attitude toward a higher up.

There was one thing that he could not handle and that was disrespect towards his father.

Matteo's tight grip on the back of his neck was enough to cut the airways off and Chandler thrashes in his hold. He saw red as he looked down at his cousin, his desire to have him lying on a pool of blood was stronger than previous times.

"Vuoi ripeterlo?" his voice was calm and hushed, but there was so much venom entangled in his words that it had the two men cower away. (want to repeat that?)

They all knew what he was capable of. Matteo was a simple man who always kept to himself, but they had never come across a man as vile and vicious as he was.

"Let go of me you piece of shit!" Chandler screamed as he tried to pry his hand off of him, but his attempts were futile.

Matteo applied more pressure on the side of his head, pressing the gun further down. His face hadn't change from it's normal state but one could sense the anger and bloodlust radiating off from him. Matteo was a dangerous man who no one dared to mess with, yet a young pup like Chandler did just that.

"Go on. Say it again."

In the back of his mind he knew that it would be wrong of him to kill his cousin since he was a member of the family, but at this very moment he wanted nothing more than his blood splattered on the walls.

Chandler chuckled, it was followed by a slight hiss from the pain that he felt on the side of his head. "I dare you to shoot me,cugino." (cousin)

Matteo smacked his head with the gun, the force was not enough to knock him out. All he wanted to do was toy with his little cousin which is something he enjoyed doing to every person who crossed him.

Chandler hissed again.

"Say that to me again and I'll-"

A loud scream had interrupted him.

The two men who were watching the incident unfold in front of them had looked up to see where that sound had come from. No soul could have entered this section of the restaurant since they had it closed off, and if anyone tried stepping in they would instantly be killed.

Reggie made sure to have it known that this part of the place was securely secluded but it seems someone did not get the memo.

The two men looked up to see a little girl standing at the door to the room. Her eyes were as big as saucers and her mouth was open as she stared at the scene in front of her.

Matteo slowly turned his head, he was ready to kill the person who had dare to step foot in this part of the building. When he was at an angle where he could see the person standing at the door, his felt his entire body freeze up.

His dark eyes clashed with her green eyes.

How did she manage to get here?

He became infuriated by the idea of her innocent little brain having to process what had unfold in front of her eyes. He clenched his jaw and his grip on Chandler's neck tightened.

"Who are you?" Vincent took a step forward as he addressed Aurora.

He watched as her frightened gaze landed on his two men in the corner of the room and he, for some reason, hated that expression on her face. She looked as if she could cry any second now with the way her eyes became glossy and Matteo felt the need to walk over and comfort her.

He kept his face neutral.

"I asked you a question." Vincent demanded.

Aurora jumped at the sound of his voice. "I-I'm sorry! I t-thought this w-was the bathroom. I-I didn't-"

He felt Chandler still under him. "Aurora?"

Both Matteo and Aurora looked down at the boy lying on the floor with Matteo's body holding him down. His knee was forcefully placed on the centre of his back to have him not move.

Matteo was confused at Chandler.

"Ch-chandler?" she gasped.

Aurora made a move to go over to Chandler and help him since he looked like he was in pain. What had Aurora stop dead in her tracks and look like a baby deer caught in headlights, was when Matteo's dark eyes locked with hers.

Matteo watched her as she wanted to make a move to help his cousin but it angered him that she knew who he was.

"Y-you're hurting my friend." she told him.

"Friend?" he asked slowly.

How was she friends with this idiota?

She nodded her head. "P-please sir. Can you l-let go of him?"

Matteo felt something in him stir when she addressed him as "sir". Her glossy eyes looked at him as she begged him to let go of her friend who Matteo still wanted to kill, but the look on her face made him hesitant.

"Capo?" Reggie asked.

Matteo released Chandler, but not before grabbing a hold of his neck and lifting his head up to his face. His mouth near his ear as he whispered the words,

"La prossima volta sarai morto." and with that he harshly let go of his cousin. (next time you will be dead)

He got up and walked away, in the direction of his two men and placed his gun back in the belt wrapped around his waist. Matteo then looked back and saw that Aurora had now run towards his cousin, she was panicking as she assessed his face for any injuries.

Matteo gritted his teeth as she looked out for that bastard.

"E la ragazza?" Reggie asked him. (what about the girl?)

"Mi occuperò di lei." he replied. (I will deal with her)

Matteo walked over to where his cousin sat on the floor, now holding a very disturbed Aurora as tears began to fall from her eyes. He whispered careless words in her ear as he rubbed her back, the action surprisingly irritated the hell out of Matteo.

He didn't want his filthy hands on her.

Aurora looked over Chandler's shoulder and saw him standing there. Matteo looked down at her, ignoring the presence of his cousin and leaving no room for discussion he told her one word before turning around and walking away,

"Come."

Hello, hi author here!

Yay you guys got to meet Matteo in this chapter, finally hehe. How was his character, any thoughts on him?

And what do you guys think about Chandler right now?

I just want to throw school in a bin and kick it repeatedly ugh. It's my final year but i'm so tired, and i can't wait to just leave!!!

Pls comment and vote it will help with my self esteem lmao.

Until next time my beautiful besties :)