Mobsters, Inc.

Five.

“Daniel Collins?” Franco repeated, eyebrows raised. Amelia’s brother! Well, duh, Moore.

Come to think of it, they did share a lot of same qualities. One, their physical appearance. Why hadn't Franco noticed in the first place? Daniel was like a younger boy version of his sister. He also seemed to have gotten Amelia’s tough spirit and spunk. The both of them ran pretty fast, too. Plus they both ate, well, animatedly.

But both also had some sort of… charm to them.

“Yeah,” Daniel said, and he smirked again, and Franco almost spat out his drink. How could an eleven year old smirk like that?

Daniel finished off his burger and leveled Franco with a gaze. “You like my name, don’t you?”

Franco just stared at the little boy in front of him, but then Daniel grinned cheekily, and he looked so much like a little boy and so much like Amelia that Franco couldn't help the little twitch of the left corner of his lip. He leaned his elbows on the table and curled his index finger, motioning for the boy to move closer. Daniel’s eyebrows furrowed, but he leaned forward nonetheless.

“I do like your name,” Franco replied, his voice serious. Daniel reared back, a smug look on his face.

“Yeah!” He reached out a hand, and Franco slapped it in a high five. He then realized that he was enjoying his time with this kid.

“So,” Franco began. “Isn't your sister going to be mad at you for trying to steal?”

Daniel’s pale blues widened and his mouth’s grip on the straw of his drink dropped. He then looked down, avoiding Franco’s eyes.

“Yeah she will,” he muttered. “She’s a bit of a firecracker when she gets mad.”

Franco let out a breath. Amelia sure seemed like the kind of older sister that was strict. He suddenly remembered Amelia’s file and her multiple jobs. He cleared his throat and asked, “But why do you have to steal? Don’t you have enough to eat?”

Daniel shrugged. “Nah,” he said. “We actually eat pretty decent meals. It’s just that today, I don’t have money with me, and I was really hungry, so yeah.” He looked back at Franco, his expression serious.

“I’m not a thief, and I swear I’m never going to attempt to steal again.”

Then Daniel wrinkled his nose. “And if my sister found out, she’ll gut me.” With a final sip on his straw, he stood up.

“Speaking of my sister gutting me, I need to go home now,” Daniel said as he stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. He shot Franco that smirk again, but the young man noticed that it wasn’t as cocky as before. It looked genuine.

“Thank you for the lunch, mate.”

“You’re welcome,” Franco replied. “What time does your sister usually get home, anyway?”

Daniel’s lower lip jutted out and he shrugged. “Around eight, I guess?”

Franco looked at his watch. “It’s only half past two,” he said as he looked at Daniel. He drummed his fingers on the table and blurted out, “You want a tour of the site?”

The younger boy blinked, and then his face bore excitement. “You’d let me in the site?”

Franco cleared his throat. “Only if you promise you will behave.”

“I promise!” Daniel exclaimed, and held up three fingers. He wiggled his eyebrows at Franco. Franco fought the wide grin threatening to spread across his face.