THIRD PERSON

It took exactly four minutes and thirty seconds until Domenico visited Riccardo in private. 'That must be a new record for him,' Riccardo thought ironically. "You're getting old, brother."

"Young enough for you," Domenico replied calmly, going to Riccardo's desk. He looked boredly over various pieces of paper before turning to him. "So, are you telling me voluntarily, or do you want me to find out myself?"

Annoyed, Riccardo rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He almost wished it would collapse on top of them both. Or at least on top of Domenico; that would be enough for him. Even though he had suspected this conversation since he saw the look on his brother's face that morning, he felt like his brother was invading his privacy in a way he certainly didn't want. "Can't we just pretend nothing happened and leave it for good? We both know how this is going to go, and I really don't want to deal with this bullshit." Domenico leaned against the table, folded his arms, and just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 'It would have been too easy.' "Really, it was an accident."

"You know, brother, blood of my blood, that's exactly the problem. Once, maybe, such a thing can happen. Twice, unusual, but not impossible. Three times, on the other hand, it's no longer a coincidence. If it's your brother, then there's no use hiding it from us. It won't help either of you." Domenico stared into Riccardo's eyes, who returned the look almost defiantly. Sometimes it annoyed Domenico how stubborn his little brother was. A trait that, as Vito was very fond of pointing out, they both shared equally. But he needed to know if Matteo was spiraling to a point where they had to intervene.

Riccardo knew what he was alluding to, and yet he was surprised that Domenico seemed to know about it. "I don't know what you mean," he said simply. The lie sounded so bad, even in his own ears.

"Oh please, we both know what I mean. For example, your little escapade in the church. Or the destroyed cabins. Or the teacher's broken wing mirror. Such things happen and can be repaired. We were all young once. But violence against people, especially against your own brother? Hard line, if you ask me." Domenico relaxed his posture and sat down in a chair. "Unless, of course, it was something completely different. Then it's even more important for you to tell me so I can take care of it."

Irritated, Riccardo tried to figure out what his brother meant by that. He had several questions: first of all, why he or Vito had never said anything when Riccardo had covered for his brother. But he was too cautious to give in to his curiosity and confirm what they apparently already knew. How did they find out? He'd always made sure to cover every piece of evidence they had left! No one could say what they would do if they knew for sure. Afterwards, they would send Matteo away or have him committed! Instead, he tried to distract from Matteo and ask the second best thing he had in mind. "It was an accident. And even if it had been something else, what would you do? What happened, happened. It's not like I'm going to die from a black eye."

Something flashed briefly in Domenico's eyes. It was only a moment, but it was enough to send a cold shiver down Riccardo's spine. He began to wonder what his brother was willing to do for him. "What would you do if it were Matteo?" Domenico asked.

"He's my little brother!" Riccardo replied harshly, as if there were no room for any doubt. He would do anything to protect him.

"And you're my little brother," Domenico replied calmly. "That's why I'm asking you again very nicely: What happened to you last night?"

Anger flushed through Riccardo's veins. What was his older brother thinking? He never showed any sign of caring for him, and now he wanted to act like he had any right to know? "I already said it was an accident, and it certainly won't happen again. If you don't have anything else to say, please excuse me. There's snow outside just waiting to land on Matteo's face." Riccardo wanted to leave the room, desperate to vent his anger elsewhere, but a hand on his arm held him back.

"Before I forget," said Domenico as if this whole conversation had never happened, pulling a smartwatch out of his pocket. He held it out to his brother, who took it, confused. "This one is for you."

Riccardo thanked him, a little suspicious of the sudden change of mood, and attached it to his wrist. When he touched the screen, he was surprised to see that it was already fully set up. He wanted to ask his brother how that happened, but Domenico had already disappeared through the door with his cell phone in hand.

Domenico [11:36] All set.

J [11:36] Okay. Status active.

_________________

"May I ask—" Josephine began, dodging two snowballs at the same time. "—what exactly are the rules?"

Matteo, who took advantage of the brief distraction to throw a ball at his brother's shoulder, was the first to answer. "It's really simple. There are three teams, you have to land as many hits as possible, and the winner is the one who has received the fewest hits at the end."

Josephine looked at him, irritated. "But there are only three of us."

"That's right."

"So basically everyone actually plays against everyone else?"

"No, then there wouldn't be any rules. But I just told you the three rules. You have to listen to me! I can't repeat myself every time." She did, but she wasn't sure whether Matteo had listened to himself. She had just seen Riccardo throwing a ball at her out of the corner of her eye and quickly ducked down. She heard an annoyed snort as the ball fell unnoticed to the ground behind her.

"Damn it, Josephine, stop dodging the balls all the time! How else are you supposed to be hit?" Riccardo shouted, sounding frustrated.

Josephine, feeling very brave for a moment, stood up straight and spread her arms. Two balls still missed their target. They might have been good at soccer, but they were horrible throwers. "You said something?" she answered innocently. "Should I come closer?" Then she took a ball herself, aimed, and hit Matteo on the head.

He shook himself as he quickly tried to get the snow out of his scarf. Matteo muttered a few words that she certainly shouldn't have heard and then stormed toward her. Josephine, who already suspected what he was intending, turned around and sprinted off too. She ignored his orders to stop but soon realized he knew the property much better than she did. He chased her like a fox, and she had to think of something clever. Out here, her options for finding shelter were too limited. Riccardo would certainly not help her, and there was no one else out here she could ask.

Although... Maybe not someone, but something! It would most likely lead to nothing, but it was still worth a try, and she was desperate enough. "Vieni Zeus!" she called out loudly as a snowball flew past her. "Hades! Ares!"

Josephine couldn't say for sure whether it was because of her command or out of curiosity, but when she turned around to see how close Matteo was, she saw two black dots behind him quickly growing much larger. Matteo, who didn't see what was coming at him, wanted to use the opportunity to catch up with Josephine, but just as he was about to jump, Zeus appeared out of nowhere and stood protectively between the two. Matteo barely managed to avoid falling. Zeus fixed his gaze on his target, and the other two had already caught up, each standing on Zeus's flank.

"Seriously? She feeds you a few times, and you listen to her? Da parte!" [To the side!] Nothing happened. All three looked at him as if they were just waiting for him to make one wrong move and sign his death warrant. Dissatisfied, he raised his hands in surrender and looked at Josephine. "Peace then?"

"Did I win?"

He really wanted to say she could never have won with her cowardly escape and the even more cowardly action with the dogs, but Zeus had taken a step toward him and growled slightly. "Congratulations," he gritted through his teeth.

"Thank you," Josephine grinned as she went to scratch Hades behind his ear. "Good boys. You did really well," she praised them.

"Matteo! Josie! Where are you? Rico said you already played without me, and I must say I'm disappointed. Not in you, Rico, never in you. I'm sure you did your best to stop them." Valentino's voice reached the two of them, and Matteo rolled his eyes before winking conspiratorially at Josephine and quickly forming a snowball.

"We're coming!" he shouted before running off with renewed enthusiasm. Josephine, who was following him at a normal speed, just shook her head. A short while later, there was a scream, and she was surprised to find that she was having fun. Real fun. When she thought about it, she hadn't had a negative thought in the last hour. Proud of herself, she bent down to arm herself too. Then she ran off.

As it turned out, it was a very good idea to arrive protected. She had barely caught up with the others; the dogs had turned to more interesting things when she saw the three brothers: one of whom was being pushed face down into the snow (Matteo), one of whom was pushing him into the snow (Valentino), and the third one who was quickly taking photos. Riccardo ignored his brother's pleas but saw the opportunity to spread snow on Valentino's unprotected neck. Josephine considered whether she should warn Valentino, but either way, she would have been too late, and she wasn't sure where her loyalty lay in this time of war.

"You damn—" cursed Valentino. "Come here and die a painful death!"

Needless to say, no one actually died that day, but by the evening, all four felt very close to it. When Vito returned home, he found them all exhausted in the living room, filled with lamentations of sore muscles, bruises, and unfair play. Only Josephine was not to be heard, which was probably because she had simply fallen asleep in all the noise around her. Vito smiled and gently touched her shoulder. When he was sure she was fast asleep, he carefully put his arms under her, lifted her up, and took her upstairs to bed.



Hello there! How are you doing? I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I like to see it as my maternity leave :) See you soon 🌹