"Tobias!" The eerily familiar voice dragged him back to the conscious world. "Wake the fuck up!" A soft hand nudge him on his face and he tried to shake of the feeling.
Despite the reoccurring dream, he was having an oddly peaceful sleep.
It was quiet for a moment but he could hear light breathing above his face and smell a bit of mint.
It can only be one person...
"Eniola?" He called out sleepily. His voice hoarse and unusually deep from thirst and lack of usage throughout the night.
He risked opening an eye and was relieved she was not one of those persons that would pull the curtains apart the second they were awake. It's still nice and dim, perfect for sleep—
"Go back to sleep, I dare you." She threatened, forcing him to open both eyes.
His sight focused on the beautiful woman leaning over him with a pretty scowl. He had been doing a pretty good job at upsetting her these past few days.
"Hello..." He croaked out, giving her a tired smile. One she did not return.
"Get up." She instructed hastily and proceeded to drag him up when he hesitated.
"Okay, I'm up now. Why are we so violent this morning?" He asked quietly, yawning and trying to comprehend why she was scurrying around the room like a decapacitated chicken.
"I have to find it!" She exclaimed using the dresser as a stool to look behind a rather large painting. It was a phony copy of Van Gogh's Starry Night.
"You'll fall and hurt yourself if you keep jumping on the tables and dressers like Spider-Man." He said but Eniola paid him no mind.
"Get your ass off the bed and help me look for it!" Enny yelled at him and he sighed but got up the bed. He was ready for the morning madness.
"What are we looking for?" He asked as he held an antique vase away from her clumsy feet.
"Varo's voice!" She replied, haphazardly hopping off the desk.
"What?" He questioned as he gently placed the vase back. "You'll be safe here."
"Yo, jefe? Gillian? Answer all ready! Was the fuck really that good?" A voice rung out and Tobias rolled his eyes. He really was not cut up the morning activities. He wanted to crawl back into the bed and cuddle with Eniola. Or at least just sleep.
"That voice?" He asked and she nodded, still trying to catch her breath.
"It's the intercom. It's right behind the lamp on the bedstand." He said tiredly, staring at the look of realization on her face.
"Oh, thanks!" She replied, happily jogging back to the bed to answer the call.
He sat heavily on the small couch by his closet as he tried to suppress another yawn.
Sure he enjoyed her company and waking up to her hovering over his face but the loudness and burst of energy so early in the morning was a bit too much. Moments like that reminded him he was seven years older than she was. He preferred his mornings dark, warm and quiet.
He tiredly watched as she rummaged behind the bedstand and retrieved a gun.
"Ouuu the house came with weapons?" She asked jokingly, waving it at him.
"It's probably from Varo—"
Pow!
Tobias felt his heart rise to his throat as he heard the gun ring out.
His eyes slowly traveled downwards from the shocked look she had on her face to... The puncture on the couch.
... Right between his legs.
"What the-" He started just as she yelled.
"Oh my God!"
He exhaled deeply, all traces of sleepiness vanished as he slowly stood up.
"I—I didn't know!" Eniola struggled to speak but he ignored her for a moment as he bent down to pick up the gun that had dropped from her hands and proceeded to remove the bullets.
"There are a million other ways to show me you are still upset with me. Killing me does not have to be a part of it." He said calmly just as the door burst open with Varo and Miguel charging in fully armed.
"Take one fucking step and enviaré tu culo italiano al infierno." I'll send your italian ass to hell. Varo's voice lowered as he realized it was just Tobias and Eniola in the room. "What the fuck happened?" He asked in a confused voice, using a finger to push his wet hair out of his eyes and putting the guns away just had Miguel had done.
"Nothing you should be worried about." He answered after keeping the gun and cartilage of bullets in two different cabinets. That was close.
"Well it sounded like a gunshot." Miguel chipped in.
"Excellent observation, Miguel." Tobias answered sarcastically. "Now if you would both get out out of my room so I can freak out in peace, I would be extremely grateful." He concluded, glancing at an apologetic but coy looking Eniola and standing up from his leaning position and making his way to the bathroom.
"Don't you want to know why I was yelling?" Varo called just as he was about to close the bathroom door and he sighed and cursed under his breath. He definitely did not plan for the morning's bullshit.
"Why were you yelling, Alvaro?" He asked, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. If it wasn't news about finding Berlusconi or that Giovanni or Sergei had somehow escaped, he did not want to hear it.
"I got information that Gillian's private home was broken into." He blinked as he heard what Varo announced and looked at Eniola who just sat at the end of the bed with a passive look on her face.
"What? My dad's?" She asked, her eyes meeting Tobias's.
Alvaro shrugged. "The one in Queens, I guess. That was what I was trying to tell you guys." He added and Tobias frowned at him.
"And you couldn't just come to knock and tell us?" He asked and Varo just nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, I guess I wanted to check if the intercom was work—" His voice died as he saw how intense Tobias's glare on him was. His useless excuse was not making the situation any better. "Nevermind."
"Of course you did. We will meet the both of you downstairs. There will be an impromptu meeting." He said, indirectly sending them out of the room and thankfully, they got the message and left with Varo muttering something under his breath.
He watched Eniola stare blankly into space and he approached her.
"Fuego—" He tried to remove the mop of hair obstructing the beautiful face he was obsessed with looking and was elated when she leaned into his touch.
She was accepting him.
"We have to go to my house." She said and his brows furrowed in reasoning.
Her place from been about a forty-five minute drive from his old house. It would be even further from his new residence. If she wanted to retrieve anything, it would already be a bit too late.
"I know it would be a bit too late to try to stop anything from happening but I want to be sure my documents are still hidden." She explained further confusing him the more. Who still keeps documents in their homes?
"What documents?" He asked carefully and she exhaled, with him finally dropping his hand. He had enjoyed that.
"Just some deeds. Anthony says they are legal evidence proving I own the different properties." He was relieved it was not as important as shareholders certificates or stock information and list of assets but still...
"And you kept them in your house?" He asked and she just huffed loudly and leaned into him, surprising him.
He subconsciously patted her hair for a moment.
"Well it seemed like the best idea at the time!" She muttered into his chest. "How can you smell so good? You only just woke up." She said distractedly and wrapped her hands around his waist. Well, one of us took a bath the previous night...
She was getting a bit too handsy.
"Okay, Eniola, as much as I'm enjoying this, we have a bit of a problem at hand." He quietly said separating her hands from him.
"So you are enjoying this?" She said, ignoring the rest of his sentence and lightly tracing his jawline. His body temperature shot up about a million degrees as her fingers brushed against his bottom lip.
What is she doing?!
"I am human at the end of the day." His voice was almost unrecognisable as she seductively pulled him closer, his eyes closed on pure instinct.
"Just say the word, Izan." Her words were only inches away from his waiting lips. "Say the fucking word and I'm all yours."
He reluctantly pulled away, in no way missing the look of disappointment on her face as she let go of him too.
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Princess..."
"I thought things would be a bit different after you said you were not comfortable with me going out with Vittore." She frowned and his eyes drooped to her lips before matching her gaze again.
He was not at all surprised she heard him. He was just being honest and doubted she would have fallen asleep that quickly.
"There's a more important issue at hand." He eventually cleared his throat and replied while she just rolled her eyes and kissed her teeth.
"Yeah, I'm definitely taking up his dinner offer." She finalised and stood up but he caught her by her wrist before she could leave. "Leave me alone, Tobias."
"Anyone but Vittore or any member of the family." Was all he said with her glaring at him. He however returned the glare. He could be extremely stubborn as well if he needed to be.
She wormed out of his grip and harshly shoved him by the shoulder while he just stood there unaffected.
"That fucking hurt, you know?" Favouring her wrist, she looked at him in something that resembled disbelief but he was too upset to decipher.
He watched her nearly run out of the room muttering profanities under her breath. Okay, maybe he had gone a bit too far. He really did not mean to hurt her.
His breathing exercises could not help contain his temper as he glared at his fuming self in the mirror.
Vittore an obvious roadblock between him and Enny and he was mildly considering eliminating the aforementioned roadblock.
"I'm going to kill the bastard."
Tobias shook away the thought and tried to steady his trembling hands so he could shave his already thing facial hair. She would throw a temper tantrum if he did that.
He mopped his face with a damp towel and hurriedly pulled out a yellow knitted sweater and a pair of light jeans and his sneakers. He could not put a finger on what the footwear reminded him of at that moment. He pondered on taking a coat but decided not to. The weather was not cold as it was the previous day.
He checked if the blades in his rather custom shoes were in place and hooked another in his sleeve. He preferred to pack light that day.
He did not have enough time to examine himself in the mirror but knew he looked as good as he could get... Which was really good.
With one last look at the injured couch, he turned off the lights.
~~~
"Ten hours later." Varo was the first to speak out as soon as he entered the living room with a cup of tea in his hands.
He had stopped by the kitchen for some toast and tea. And an apple and a tablespoon full of peanut butter. What? I have cravings too.
"Is that coffee?" He was surprised Eniola would still care enough to ask as they were not on the best terms.
"It's just tea." He quickly replied, hoping to turn the frown on her face upside down but nothing happened. She just looked away and took a drag of the cigarette she was holding.
At least she was not afraid of him as he had feared. He was more comfortable with her being upset than scared of him. That would be horrible.
He pushed it away and turned to twenty something men that stood before him. Some were in front of their former resting places and others were behind or leaning on the white walls and his eyes lingered on Vittore for a moment.
The man held a smug look on his face, almost like he knew he was the cause of the current rift in his situationship with Enny. The idiot was shirtless with a pair of loose-hanging cargo shorts. Does he not know it is the middle of the winter?
Vittore held eye contact with Tobias before surrendering and turning his gaze to the floor when Diego nudged him.
He gestured for the men to take back their previous sitting positions and apologized for delaying them.
"Well, I'm sure—" He was interrupted by his sister bursting in with Clara right behind her, both yielding two suspiciously heavy bags. Of course, something just had to happen!
"We're here! We're here!!" She announced dropping her hands on her knees to catch a breath. "Izan you have two speeding tickets to pay and I got pulled over for running a red light by some fucked up cop. I also don't know how traffic works in America so fuck that, I guess." She rushed, oblivious to the flat look Tobias was giving her. "Eniola! I am sorry we took so long but Victoria's Secret had a sale and I could not miss it!" She explained tossing one of the bags at Eniola who did not seem to mind the interruption one bit.
"Thank you so much, Becca." She said scrambling up to her feet and muttering "I'm gonna go change. Y'alls shit was boring anyway."
"Women." Varo snorted but immediately shrunk back when Clara glared at him. "I mean... People."
His eyes followed her until she completely disappeared. Tobias pinched the bridge of his nose and sipped his quickly cooling tea.
"As I was going to say before what just happened, happened, I'll be leaving for a while to check out what really happened at Eniola's house and I want to be updated on everything that happens here when I am not present." He started and they all nodded. "Eniola will be coming with me because there are some documents she stored somewhere in there and she needs to ensure their safety. While I am away, I do have some tasks I hope you all would help me carry out." He carefully dropped the mug on the ceramic table and cracked his fingers.
The sickening sound was as loud as firecrackers in the silent room and he caught Alvaro rolling his eyes. "So fucking dramatic."
"Sergei and Giovanni are still in our custody and I can't help but feel that the cono isn't telling all he knows." He said catching the small smirk on Varo's face again. The psychopath knew exactly where he was heading to with his little speech. "Varo, I would like to know exactly how much information he has on his brother and please do not hold back."
"Por supuesto, jefe." Alvaro replied almost excitedly and Tobias merely nodded. And he was the one with sadistic tendencies.
"Treat Sergei with a bit of leniency though. I like that one." He polished off the interrogation topic, picked up his completely cold cup, and tried to hold back a grimace before dropping it back. He hated cold beverages. "Franco, I would like you to do a background check on Berlusconi."
"But boss, I've done it before and nothing came up," Franco replied itching the middle of his rainbow-colored hair with the end of his toothbrush. He seemed like he was just about to take a shower.
"Do it again. Miguel, Luis, and Luca would be escorting us but I want all of your wires and phones on in case something comes up. That would be all." He concluded and the men immediately dispersed.
He guessed they would either continue with their previous day's renovations or just find for a way to help in Alvaro's assigned activities.
"Don Ferna." A voice called making him sigh and bite his tongue. The morning just got better.
"Can I help you, Vittore?" He asked, turning to face the broad-shouldered Afro Italian who had hastily thrown on a gloomy t-shirt.
The man had a neutral look on his face and Tobias could not even bother himself to interpret it. What could he possibly want from me?
"Well, I was thinking if I could escort you. I and Diego already finished redecorating our suite and—"
"It will not be necessary, Lothario. But thank you." He felt like stabbing himself in the eye for being so nice to him.
"But, Capo-"
"But what?" He asked sharply, trying to keep his voice down. Could he not take no for an answer and leave him alone?
"I just do not want to sit around and not do anything."
"Really?" Tobias asked, briefly amused by the man's serious look. "Since when did you stop enjoying sitting around and doing nothing?"
He frowned at the man who could not reply. Of course, he's speechless.
"Lo fai solo per Eniola, vero?" You're only doing this for Eniola, right? He asked and Vittore's eyes widened a bit. "È quello che pensavo. I am sure you'll be able to spend enough time with her on your dinner date." That's what I thought. Tobias's tight-lipped smile was as venomous as the spite in his tone when he said this.
"Vicky, you coming without us?" Eniola sashayed down the stairs, avoiding his eyes. Vicky?!
She had some simple jeans on with a large t-shirt that looked familiar (unsurprisingly, it was his.) and her bag. She looked stunning. As usual.
Speak of the devil.
"I was just discussing it with capo about it." He replied sparing her a small smile. A smile that made Tobias want to pluck out all his teeth, ground it to powder form and then serve it to him in a protein shake.
"And I already gave him my answer." He said stiffly and Eniola gave a big fake smile.
"Awesome! Come on, let's go now." She said, clapping her hands together and dragging Vittore who just avoided Tobias's gaze. What?
Tobias could feel his muscles tense as the blade in his sleeve pricked his arm and he had to remind himself to calm down.
It was way too early to lose his temper.
And it was clear as day that Eniola was doing this to draw out a reaction from him.
He quietly exhaled then followed them outside.
~~~
Asides from the annoyingly loud car trip that involved Luis and Miguel arguing about whose hair was healthier and turning it into a full-on debate with Eniola as the judge. Miguel eventually won as Eniola pointed out Luis's hair was in no way healthy because of its frequently dyed blue color. Luca just typed on his phone, occasionally looking out the road.
His eyes were always alert and since he did not know English well, he remained quiet most of the time. It did not mean that he was in anyway dumb or aloof.h
A rather obnoxious conversation ensued between Vittore and Eniola who took it upon herself to explain every New York culture to the Italian with Luis chipping in with his three-day-old knowledge of the state.
I should have driven alone.
The car ride was the longest two-hour drive of his entire life. At that moment, he would mind walking all the way back just so he would not hear Vittore's exaggerated accent and Eniola's fake laugh.
He was glad it all came to an abrupt halt when they arrived at the house and the media were everywhere. Eniola's groan was a proper representation of how the entire group felt.
"Would you like us to disperse the crowd?" Vittore suggested and Eniola shook her head. Ha!
"Doing anything to them would only make it worse. They just want answers." She answered. "It's a bit out of character for me not to tweet anything every now and again and I'm sure the bastards are dying to get little information. It's only a matter of time until they cook up some shit tale themselves." She finished before exhaling loudly and Luis was there to open the door for her.
Eniola was instantly blinded by flashes from camera lenses even with the shades she had on. The reaction of the paparazzi showed they had been expecting her as they all flooded her with questions. Tobias was semi grateful to Vittore and the rest of the men who tried to put some space between her and the insane people. He would have a shooter at a rooftop to end the majority of them but that was just him.
"Eniola! Eniola over here!!" A journalist tried to pull her by the shoulder as she replied to another but was instantly stopped by Tobias who caught the man by the wrist.
"You touch her and I'll cut off your entire arm." He warned, his voice dropping a few octaves lower than he would prefer but successfully making the media man recoil in fear.
He had been in an extremely bad mood the entire morning and he was not going to let a measly journalist make it worse. He didn't miss the brief glance Eniola gave him before she hastily answered someone else.
He preferred to think it was because she felt a bit relieved he had her back.
"Of course, I made a mistake trespassing but come on NYPD. Couldn't do better than falsely accuse an innocent black woman? And I ain't just saying it. The judge backed me up." She shrugged casually, her answer raging more questions.
She simply ignored them and pushed her way to the gate that was locked for some reason.
"Don't you all have other things to do? Fucking idiots." She muttered the last part before slipping through the smaller part of the gate followed by the rest of the men and lastly, Tobias.
"Man, that was intense." Miguel exhaled loudly once Vittore quickly shut the gate before them.
"For once in your life, Miguel, you are correct." Luis added, falling in step with Miguel and Vittore right behind Tobias and Luca who still took discreet glances at his phone and Eniola leading the way.
Tobias glanced at the house before him and felt a wave of nostalgia hit him.
It had been very homey with its 4 bedrooms and white and cream overall colour tone. He remembered it was just him and Eniola most of the time and occasionally her almost never present father.
"I do not know why you are so helpful Tobias. But thank you." The man had said as he had gone to confirm if his daughter had finally fallen asleep. He had only flew in from Washington a minutes ago and was unable to meet up with his kid.
Tobias had unsuccessfully tried to make Eniola complete her homework but gave up on it and tucked her in. He knew he would have to do it for her even when he too had a lot of college projects to do. His papers and books were sprawled all over Dean's dining table.
"You know you do not need to thank me, Dean. Eniola deserves to be happy. She is only a child." He swallowed hard after speaking. It was fucking ironic.
He too was just a child and was barely 18. A child that was unable to enjoy his childhood. A child that had grown up too quickly and he could not bear to see the same thing happen to her.
"And so are you, Tobias. I just hope this plan of yours works out for you." Dean said to Tobias who just nodded and sipped his coffee. It's strong taste was exactly what he needed to keep him up until the hours of the morning.
"Me too." He replied after a while of staring at the same line of Poe's 'The Raven'.
Normally it would intrigue him to study some literature but that night, he had something bothering him.
"Dean?" He called to the dark-skinned politician who was absorbed in the newspaper he was reading.
"Yes, my boy?" He answered, dropping his paper to pay attention to the newly dyed blonde boy. He reminisced the brief shock that crossed Dean's face when he saw his haircut. The man just shook his head and asked how his day went. If it were Farrell, his father, he would be sporting a skinned cut.
Tobias appreciated how much attention the Dean paid to him. The man was grateful enough to shelter him and pay his college application fees, got him a part time job as Tobias was new in the state.
Dean was literally the father he never had. The selfish misogynistic asshole in Minnesota had no place in his heart.
"What if he finds me first? Or my mother? He already has Rebecca." He asked holding on to his highlighter pen a little too tightly. He could not help but wonder what would happen if his entire plan went wrong. A plan he was losing courage with going through with. Life seemed so easy pretending that all he had was Literature, the Gillian family and his job at Starbucks. Pretending his own biological family did not exist. Pretending he didn't have to save that family sooner or later.
He watched Dean stand from his sitting place that was vertically opposite him and walked to a closer seat so he could sit and talk to Tobias with a hand on his shoulder.
"Tobias, you never really told me your father sent you here of all places but you've been smart enough to gain my trust. And surprisingly Eniola's. If there is anybody that can pull through with whatever is going on in that head of yours, it's you. You'll figure it out. And remember, if push comes to shove, I'm here for you."
The man patted him on the back and got up again after Tobias had not replied.
"How about a late night snack? I'm sure we could make mug cakes." Dean asked and the boy nodded with a small smile.
It was nice knowing someone had his back.
Dean's death had affected Tobias more than his father's. He was glad he had left for Minnesota before then because he didn't think he would be able to be strong for Eniola or anyone at all.
"Who are you?" A female's voice asked the group, pulling him from his thoughts.
"I should be asking you that. Who are you and what the fuck are you doing in my house?" Eniola questioned the brunette woman in a grey coat and a group of other people. One was taking pictures of a broken vase.
"Detective Amalie Foster. Charming to meet you, Miss Gillian?" She asked, fishing out a notepad from her coat.
Tobias raised a brow at the familiar name that had not yet noticed him. She had outgrown her ugly bub but the hawk eyes and permanent scowl remained the same. He rolled his eyes.
Of course, she still wears cheap clothes.
"No, Angelina Jolie. The fuck are you doing here?" Enny asked irritatedly making the woman sigh and Vittore snicker.
"I am investigating a murder scene." Foster answered flatly, Tobias'interest piqued. That's interesting.
"Someone died in my house?" Eniola asked and Foster nodded gesturing at the group to come with her.
The victim laid on the kitchen floor with a blanket over their face and the detective bent over to reveal their identity.
"Maria?" Eniola said in shock as she staggered backwards with Vittore catching her. Tobias could not help the way he quickly pulled Vittore away from her. Thankfully, she did not notice.
Tobias knew the woman by her name.
Maria Jones was the housekeeper Anthony had told him of about a year ago. Young highschool leaver with a lot of dreams and the likes. It was sad she met such a devastating end.
"So you know her?" The detective asked as she scribbled on her journal.
"No shit. She was my maid. She came in once a week to clean." Eniola answered, rubbing the sides of her arms. She was still in shock and Tobias wished he could comfort her even when Vittore was obviously doing a great job with it.
"Was she the only person that had access into your house?" Foster asked and Eniola shook her head.
"She and my manager."
Tobias zoned out of their conversation to study the body. The girl had a simple T-shirt and pants on with small cuts all over her skin. Like she fell on glass.
However, what stood out the most was the absence of her tongue as her mouth hung open. He instantly knew it was an act of retaliation.
And Varo would be particularly upset that someone copied his style.
The frowns on his men faces could tell they were also thinking the same.
"Anthony Baragas?" Foster asked Eniola who only nodded as she could not tear her eyes away from the corpse as it was lifted unto a stretcher. "We will try to contact him. Are these friends of yours?" She finally paid mind to the men behind Eniola.
"Yes." She answered detective who did her best not to yell. "When will you be leaving? I do not like many people in my childhood home." Eniola said pushing past the detective.
"As soon as you agree to come to the station so we could get your statement." Foster called just as Eniola was about to climb the stairs.
"Fuck that."
"Miss Gillian, it is the law to get an official statement and I'm afraid I cannot leave until you agree to visit the station." Foster said stubbornly.
"Then you'll be here for a really long time, Foster." Tobias finally spoke out, getting all of their attention. It was hard to miss the soothing authoritative voice he had in public.
The same voice that seemed to die in his throat when he was Eniola.
"And who are you?" Foster asked in disinterest making Luis chuckle.
Tobias did not think he had changed much in just seven years.
"Tobias Izan Fernandez. Charming to meet you." He smiled sadistically as her poker face dropped.
He never enjoyed revealing his identity to demand respect but he hated people with attitude.
The small murmurs among the private policemen and smaller detectives made him roll his eyes.
"From Ferna Buildings?" The man taking a picture of the shattered vase questioned and he just waved him off.
"No, Bob The Builder." Luis answer under his breath.
"You've changed." She muttered as she stared him down.
"Eniola wants you all out of her house. Do as she says." He said calmly, eyeing Foster's facial expressions.
She seemed to be having a mental battle between standing up to him or exiting the house.
"Leave, detective." He added a bit more strongly, not wanting to create an even bigger scene.
She reluctantly sighed and gestured at her coworkers.
"Let's wrap this up." She ordered and began to leave but stopped by Tobias. "You should be in prison, Mr Ferna. You know you should." Tobias could not resist the smirk that stretched his lips as she quietly snapped at him.
"Sweetheart, I thought we agreed to forget about that." He could not see the expression on her face as she kissed her teeth and quickly left the house, followed by her investigating crew.
His eyes met Eniola's perplexed ones.
"She's nice." Miguel said and Eniola snorted in reply.
"Those holier than thou cops." Vittore muttered, making Tobias narrow his eyes at him. Look at who's talking!
"Okay..." Enny said after watching Tobias subtly disintegrate Vittore with his eyes. "I'm going to check on those documents." She said running up the stairs skipping some.
Tobias wanted to shout after her to be careful but realised there was every possibility that she would start her lengthy rant about not being a child anymore.
"Man, this house is fucked." Luis commented with a slice of cake that he had gotten from the refrigerator in his hands. They all knew Eniola would not mind. "There's blood everywhere."
He was right.
It was as if the murderer just tore open bags of blood and splattered it everywhere. It would be a pain to clean up.
"I do not know how you're even managing to eat. I can barely keep my food down." Miguel complained looking at Luis who shoved the cake in his mouth.
"Well, it's cake. I honestly do not know what else to tell you. The fact that it is cake is already a fucking valid point."
He was so much like Varo. It was disappointing that they did not get along.
"I think it's best if you took a look around the house. Check if it's bugged or if the detective overlooked something. Except you Luca." He ordered the men who just nodded and parted ways with Luis dramatically pulling out a gun and stuffing the last of his cake in his mouth.
Tobias did not trust the detective. He never trusted her.
Her calculating eyes said it all— cunning and deceptive. She was the kind to make a deal to lower your jail time if you cooperated with the interrogation but made sure you spent the rest of your life behind bars.
"I am trying to help you, Mr Tobias. Do you know what would happen if the higher-ups got a whiff of this? Tobias fucking Fernandez ended his father's life for what? Property? The firm? You're going to spend your whole life in jail if you don't come clean to me." She said, sitting on the desk in front of him as she watched the leather straps tighten around his wrists.
This wasn't right. There was no way being called in for questioning would go like this.
Where the fuck was Varo?
He was going to kill him when he saw him.
"Tobias..."
He wouldn't budge and though he felt like strangling the woman with his own hands, he knew she was acting on behalf of someone.
"Who?" He forced out, his throat painfully dry after hours of dehydration.
Foster frowned. "Who, what?"
"I'm not fucking dumb, detective. Who paid you?"
She looked ready to deny the accusation but waved her blunt in his face, the burning tip of weed inches away from his nose. He would kill her if she burned him.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Tobias—"
He chuckled, ignoring how rough it sounded but successfully interrupting her.
"It's Don Ferna to you."
He had wanted to get back to her after he sorted out his sister's kidnapping but the company had kept him too busy for it. Now, he had time.
"Well, this is it." Eniola pointed to a slashed painting on the wall at the very end of the hallway. His attention was easily swayed.
Tobias knew it very well. There was a shallow safe behind it that Dean used to store some of his daughter's trinkets.
They meant that much to him.
"This is not just a painting, is it? Look at this—" Luca pointed at the painted stripes on Napoleon's shirt.
In the middle, there was a small waver in the series of straight lines. One that Tobias had noticed two days after coming to the Gillian's home. It took Lucado mess than a second.
"This small shift here shows that there is something at the back of it, like another layer." His small hands traced from the middle to the edge of the picture as Eniola watched in fascination. He stopped at the edge and tapped on it. "And if it is a safe, there is always small lines for the cover. What I do not know is how to reach it." He finished making Enny smile at him, impressed.
"You're right, kid. Varo was right about you after all." She smiled double tapping on the small waver, the picture automatically lowering into the ground.
"Varo talked about me?" Luca asked surprisingly and Tobias was pleasantly surprised as well.
Luca had never been Alvaro's favourite person since the Felicio saga. It took a lot of convincing and fights for him to even accept Luca into the family.
Luca was much comfortable with him and Eniola as he was able to express himself. He could barely look Varo in the eyes.
The portrait exposed a vault with a passcode and fingerprint verification.
"Franco will be jealous of this." Luca quipped and Tobias nodded. The tech nerd always made sure he was up to date with his technological gizmos.
"And thank you, Tobi." Eniola spoke directly to him for the first time that day, without spite in her voice. "For helping out with the press and Detective Foster. That was really nice... Thanks." She said honestly before going back to the safe.
Tobias was just relieved she was talking to him again.
He leaned on the wall as he watched Eniola type in an extremely long passcode and proceed to input her fingerprint.
The small buzz was a bit off putting as Eniola stared at the machine in confusion.
"Is there a problem?" He asked, looking at the bold 'FINGERPRINT MISMATCH'.
"It's not recognizing my fingerprint. Maybe there's a problem with it." She replied. "Luca can you get this open?"
"Franco would easily hack it open, the only thing Luca would help you do is blow it wide open." Vittore suddenly appeared. "The whole place is clean. Not clean as in clean— you know what I mean." Tobias just nodded at him. He was a bit to preoccupied to be petty about the idiot's presence.
"Okay, I'll rephrase." She nodded and turned to Luca who had just finished peeking at his phone. "Luca honey, can you blow this safe open for me?"
~~~