"What's your last name again?" Franco asked the cop that Clara had now clogged a tissue up his nose to prevent the bleeding.
"R-rachovic." The man forced out as he dragged himself along with the men.
"That's Russian, right? Do you know Putin? Heard he was a cool guy." He asked again.
"Idiot, he's German and how the fuck would he know a fucking president?" Luis said with a frown.
"Oh." Franco didn't seem to mind the insult as he turned to Sergei. "You know Hitler?"
"Fransisco, for fuck's sake—"
Tobias was glad he had agreed to make the deal with him.
"W-what if I refuse?" Sergei coughed out more blood as he tried to speak.
Tobias did not need to answer the question.
"Ra...cho..vic... Got it!" Franco said after repeating the questions a hundred times and then typing the name into his phone.
"Luis?" Tobias called from ahead of them. He could hear the slight hasty footsteps as the man jogged towards him.
"Yes, jefe?"
"Take Sergei to the house." He instructed and Luis looked at him for a brief second before he nodded.
"Come on, asshole." He yelled, marching back to the group to drag the cop by his collar.
"Wait a sec—" Alvaro called him back, pulling out a Ziploc from his coat. "Just to be safe." He harshly strapped the contraption around the man's arms.
"Fuck, Varo. His palms are turning blue." Luis commented and Varo rolled his eyes, shoving Sergei towards him.
"The tighter the lock is, the less chance he has getting free and strangling you in the fucking car. Now get going." He replied dusting his palms and pulling Clara with him to meet up with Tobias who had been waiting for them.
"I feel like I'm transporting a fucking prisoner. If he tries shit, I'll fucking shoot him." Luis grumbled as they got to where the cars were parked. It was far past two and Tobias knew they had to start making their way back to the court for the verdict ruling.
He almost rolled his eyes when he heard Sergei mutter something under his breath as Luis pushed him into the car and Franco got in as well.
"I swear I've seen this on Fast and Furious before."
"Drive safe," Tobias said hitting the boot of the vehicle just as the smurf-haired man drove off.
"Are you sure that man is worth it, jefe?" Varo asked as they casually watched Rebecca and Eniola stroll out of the restaurant along with his men.
Tobias did not fail to notice Luca subtly pass a note to the waiter he was talking to earlier. He knew he would question him later.
"I believe it's called a gut feeling? " He asked Alvaro who glanced at Clara for a second then nodded. "Yes, I have a feeling I can trust him... To an extent."
With his family on the line, Sergei was at his mercy, and as much as Tobias knew it was a weakness. No matter how cute babies were, having them in their line of work was incredibly dangerous. He could not phantom the lives of his wife or children being threatened because of him. He would easily go mad.
"I trust your judgment, boss," Alvaro answered just as Eniola got to Tobias. His heart lifted lightly as he realized she was smiling. He was glad that being in Rebecca's company distracted her.
"Hey." She said almost shyly. "You left your coat and jacket in there." He almost sighed in relief when he saw the clothes. It was cold outside.
"Thank you." He said in gratitude as he shrugged on the suit jacket. "Let's head back to the court. I just hope the session does not take long." He had had a long day and could not wait to lay in bed and rest. Would she want to lay with me?
"Would I what?" She asked as she climbed into the car. He almost slammed the door he was holding open against his head. He was thinking aloud again.
"It's nothing." He answered quickly and Rebecca loudly scoffed.
"He wants to know if you would want to fuck him!" She yelled slamming her rented Mercedes and driving away.
"That's not what I said," Tobias spoke softly, his cheeks colored red.
"Do you really want to know?" She asked with mischief in her eyes as he too entered the car. His eyes briefly met with Bob through the mirror and the driver looked away.
"E-enny, please." The question alone brought inappropriate images into his head.
"Alright, alright." She sighed loudly. "You're no fun. Where have you been though?"
"Outside..." He was grateful she finally let go of the embarrassing topic.
"What did you go outside to do?" She asked casually, retrieving a pocket mirror from her purse to reapply some lipgloss. The action itself was very distracting.
"I went to meet Alvaro and Clara," Tobias answered, tearing his eyes away from her full lips.
"And for some reason, the meeting ended up with Luis dragging a battered man into his car and driving off with him?" She asked again and Tobias eyes widened very slightly. He was a bit flabbergasted when she pulled him to her by his chin. "The supposed meeting also ended up with you having blood on your face?" He paled a bit as she simply wiped some dry flakes of blood off his right cheek. "Some meeting that was."
"I..."
"What are you planning on doing with Sergei?" She asked throwing him completely off guard.
"You saw?" He managed to choke out in surprise. He didn't want to tell her about Sergei or anything relating to Davis until after the verdict. He did not worry her.
"Of course I did. Rebecca knew you were up to something so we went to the bathroom, climbed out the window, and followed you guys. The others did not know though. She said if they did, they wouldn't let us leave." Tobias internally sighed. His sister was easily a horrible influence.
"I didn't want you to see that." He said quietly and her hands dropped from his face, along with her smile.
"I'm not a fucking peach you know? I don't bruise that easily. Sure watching Varo assault a man was difficult but I understand that certain things have to be done sometimes." Tobias frowned for a second at the loss of contact and his eyes meeting the driver's own for the second time.
Huh.
"Can we talk about this later?" He asked her softly and she just huffed, throwing her attention to the view outside the moving vehicle.
"Okay." She murmured and he exhaled loudly. She was upset with him again but it would have to do. Bob's actions were becoming very suspicious.
Eniola did not wait for him to open the door for her as she immediately jumped out of the car the moment Bob parked in the courtyard.
"Is she upset with you again?" Clara asked as they watched her stomp childishly into the court. He thought it was cute.
"Luca? Please." He instructed and the boy nodded, immediately following her. "She is." He answered Clara.
"You don't say..."
"What you did was bold. Out of character. But bold." He commended. "What triggered you?" He asked trying to eavesdrop on Varo and Rebecca's conversation as they made their way to the courtroom. He rolled his eyes at the disguised paparazzi again.
"Alvaro. He called me a sissy." Of course.
"I called you pussy, as in coward. Sissy is a completely different word, love." He called from behind and Clara blushed.
"He says so many bad words, Mr Tobias." She whispered so he wouldn't hear and Tobias forced himself to chuckle. It was a bit difficult to listen in on what their conversation was about when Clara was talking to him.
"If you're not comfortable with it, just tell him. He's a reasonable person so he'll stop." He advised completely giving up on his eavesdropping.
"I—I don't mind." She stuttered and he stared at her in amusement. Interesting.
"Oh really?" He chuckled at how red she was. "You prefer to fight with him? The both of you are very strange. Should we tell him though?"
"No, we're not telling him!" She quietly snapped at him. "S-sir!" She quickly added taking her seat beside him as he eyed Eniola who did not spare him a single glance but decided the wooden railings in front of her were more interesting to look at.
"We're not telling him what?" Rebecca suddenly dropped beside her.
"Clara is in love with Alvaro," Tobias answered playfully and Rebecca gasped.
"Clara! You naughty girl. I don't blame you though, Varo is very handsome but still, Clara... Isn't he too—" She teased making Clara even redder in the face.
"I am not in love with him!"
"Sure..."
"Court!" The clerk called forcing the quite entertaining conversation to come to an end.
"Let us get this over and done with," Berlusconi called taking his seat. Tobias could notice the anxiousness in his gestures and the way their eyes met now and again.
"Of course, my lord." An unfamiliar person called hastily moving to the bench. "The reports."
The new man had just presented the judge with new test results. All eyes were on the judge as he slowly opened the envelope and read its contents. Tobias was a bit nervous too. If the results differed from Varo's in any way, it would make the entire legal process a bit more tedious and complicated.
"I have seen all there is to see," Berlusconi announced, after a while of reading and discussing with the jury. It didn't seem like he was in support of whatever decision they had taken. "By the power vested in me as the Chief Justice of this magistrate court district, I hereby rule Eniola Josephine Gillian not guilty and acquitted of all the accusations. Further investigations should be carried out to reveal the perpetrators behind the abuse of the drug and only then should another lawsuit be filed if Miss Gillian decides so. Court dismissed." Tobias could not help the loud sigh of relief that escaped his lips when the judge banged the hammer.
The disappointed whispers from the quickly dispersing crowd were enough to bring a smile to his face. One down, an unknown number of obstacles left to go. He could deal with that.
"Look who's not going to prison!" Eniola exclaimed as she approached them with a wide grin. He could see how relieved she was. No matter how much she had tried to hide the weight of the suit on her, he had still noticed. He was glad she was a little bit lighter.
"Congrats, chica!"
"Congrats, Eniola!"
"Congratulations, Enny!" Clara greeted before being engulfed in a hug.
"You're welcome, Gillian." Varo too congratulated her with a pat on her back.
"Thank you, Varo." It was his turn to get a tight hug.
"Almost at my 200th milestone," He said as they pulled away.
"I'm rooting for you. And you kept me out of prison. What do you want? Anything." She asked seriously and he pretended to think for a second.
"Well... You have a Lamborghini Diablo that you do not drive—"
"It's yours." She smiled and he sucked in a breath.
"Wait- I was going to ask to take it for a ride-"
"It's yours, Alvaro. You said it yourself, I don't drive it." She said, grinning at him.
"You're fucking kidding. No fucking way!" He grinned too. "Congratulations to me. Fuck, thanks. Come on Clara, let's go get my new baby." He hugged her again, patting her heavily and quickly pulling away to grab Clara by the arm.
"I swear you think I'm a briefcase at this point."
"No, thank you!" Eniola yelled back as he bade her goodbye with equal excitement.
"Varo, what about Berlusconi?" Mateo called.
"He's your responsibility. Torturing one man is enough for today!" The man yelled as he exited the courtroom.
"Stop walking so fast!" Clara's voice faded into the distance.
"Can he do that?" Mateo asked after making sure Varo was not within the vicinity.
"Of course, he can. He's Varo Loco" Miguel answered and Tobias shook his head, his eyes landing and Luca texting away on his phone on his far right. The boy seemed serious as he furiously tapped his screen.
The court was now a bit deserted save for the cleaners who swept the floors and cleaned the seats.
"You know, I'm still upset with you but thank you," Enny said appearing beside him. "For being here for me." She explained and he felt her fingers clasp his.
"Thank you." He nervously intertwined their fingers. They had been closer than this before. Why did this feel more intimate? "For letting me be there for you."
She smiled and leaned on his shoulder and he could feel her hair tickling his earlobes. This is nice.
"And I'll tell you everything. I promise." He said very quietly that he wasn't sure she heard him until she nodded.
"Okay, lovebirds, Berlusconi, 6 o'clock!" Rebecca called making him turn to the direction of new chaos.
"I said I'm coming with you, leave me the fuck alone!" The man complained. "Hey, my elbow does not bend that- ah!" Riccardo appeared with him effortlessly lifting the judge by his collar.
He wordlessly pinned Giovanni on a chair, completely ignoring him.
"I am a fucking judge and I demand some respect!" The man yelled and Tobias rolled his eyes, reluctantly letting go of Enny. Men and their egos.
"I'll give you some respect, I'll respect you by taking that hammer and shoving it up your fucking ass if you don't quit yelling!" It was Eniola who screamed, shocking everybody.
"Aww, if it isn't little miss rebel." The man said, finally noticing her while she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Little? I'll show you little-" Tobias had to cut her off by gently pulling her back. "Oh you're fucking lucky he's holding me back else I will shove that hammer so far up your ass your ass plug would wish it was that big."
Silence.
Radio silence.
"I-I don't even know how to respond to that." The man said after coming out of his shock. "Why would you even say that?"
"Good for all of us then." She said, finally calming down and cupping Tobias' hands that were still around her waist. His cheeks warmed as he realized he hadn't let go of her. Focus Tobias!
He left her again and calmly walked up to Berlusconi.
"Giovanni?" He called and the man nodded. "Where is your brother?" He was insulted as the man laughed loudly in his face but restrained himself from doing something stupid. Eniola was there, he didn't want her to see how much of an unreasonable person he too could be.
Strike one.
"If you think I'd tell you where Giannini is then you and your girlfriend there are equally deranged."
Strike two.
He could hear the sound of shock and surprise behind him. The man was really pushing his luck. What was the possibility that Eniola would suddenly need to go the bathroom?
He chuckled, looking up to Mateo who stood next to the man and held an impassive look. However, he didn't miss the twitch around his eyes. If Varo was there, the man would have a bullet hole through his cheeks.
"Harsh words, Giovanni. Harsh words. I honestly do not have all the time in the world. I have had the longest week and I cannot wait to get into bed and sleep for the next two days so I'll ask you again." He pulled out the knife he hid in his sleeve sparing a glance and Eniola who looked a bit shocked. "Where. Is. Your. Brother-"
The wet and slimy substance that bit into his eyes was enough to make him lose his cool.
Strike. Fucking. Three.