He barely acknowledged Bob's cry as Alvaro forced the man to his knees.
"Talk." He simply instructed and frowned when the man kept mute. Bob's face morphed back into the blank and impassive look he always wore after the pain passed.
Aww, look who's being brave.
He relaxed into his seat, reveling in the serenity of the office. It was just him, Varo and Bob.
He had hoped the privacy and the restraint he had from scrapping the man's hair off his head would still preserve some respect between them and make his confession flow easier but the idiot was proving to be extremely stubborn.
He watched Varo light a cigarette and walk to the window to blow it out. He was obviously frustrated.
"Come on, Robert. We have been at this for almost an hour. Do you have no dignity left?" He asked quietly and the dumb man remained unhinged.
He kept and unwavering glare on the man who only stared at his bounded wrists in silence that was broken by Alvaro loudly exhaling.
He knew the sluggishness of the entire interrogation was ticking Varo off. Hell, he was slightly ticked off as well.
"I should also let you know that I am not usually this patient." He said again and clicked his tongue when Bob said nothing. "I am being rather lenient with you, Robert. I won't be for long."
Total silence.
"Robert..."
"Just get this over with, Mr Ferna." He finally spoke.
"Aww, thought you lost your voice for a moment." Varo snarled still leaning on the window sill.
"Get what over with? Do you think I want to kill you?" Tobias asked amusingly before slowly getting off his seat. He had enjoyed how the luxurious leather felt on his back.
"Is that not what people like you do?" Bob commented, still looking at his palms.
"People like me?" He slowly approached the driver and tipped his chin up so he could look him in his eyes. "Do you even know who I am?" He asked and Bob muttered a 'no'.
The judgemental prick.
"Do you know what I am capable of?" He asked again and was answered with another 'no'. "Then, Robert, how would you know I kill people?" He queried, letting go off Bob's face and wiping his fingers on the man's shirt.
He looked at the pathetic excuse of a minion for a moment and walked to his desk. The shiny polish on the table appealed to him.
"As tempting as that idea seems, there are more important things at hand." He opened a file that Franco had given to him.
It contained very little information of Robert's background.
"Why did you only start existing three years ago?" He asked thoughtfully.
The only information Franco could obtain was him joining the police in 2009 and quitting for no meaningful reason the following year. There were zero records of his education, family or past incidents.
"I do not understand."
"I call bullshit." Varo muttered from his spot, burning holes with his eyes into the man's head.
"Don't act stupid, Robert. My patience is wearing thin." Tobias warned again.
He watched Alvaro stalk behind the man with his cigarette between his lips.
Robert sighed heavily and cleared his throat, muttering something under his breath but was immediately cut off by Alvaro who elbowed him in the neck.
"Sorry, we couldn't hear you." Varo grinned at the man gasping and writhing in pain. "Fucking pussy."
His eyes met with Tobias who silently asked him to pause. Sighing, he walked up to Tobias, reading the file from over his shoulder.
"I cannot find any tangible information." Tobias said to Varo who just pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I still do not know why you do not want me to beat the tangible information out of the fucker." He grumbled and Tobias spared the former driver a glance.
"I am sure you already ruined his voice box. You soiled any chance of getting information." He answered watching the man try to soothe his bruised neck.
Tobias was out of ideas on how to discuss maturely with the man.
"Do whatever you'd like to." He waved Alvaro off, turning his attention to the one paged file.
He did not understand how Bob got entangled with the New York police. The file he held stated that he was recruited to Minnesota at first.
How did he get here?
Tobias wondered if Berlusconi/Davis's tentacles stretched wider than he had initially believed.
Robert's disgruntled cry drew his attention to the pair and he rolled his eyes at what Alvaro was doing.
The man had three, yes three of his fingers in Bob's nostrils, pulling it upwards. Tobias slightly grimaced at the sight of blood at the side of his nose.
As if Varo's psychopathic laughter was not enough, he had his other hand wrapped around Bob's neck.
Tobias did not know which would tear off first; his nose or entire head.
"O-okay! Okay!" The driver's obviously strained voice sounded in surrender and Alvaro reluctantly let go of him after sharing eye contact with Tobias who nodded discreetly.
"Fucking bastard." He shoved the man away from him and dusted his hands with a handkerchief. "I sure as hell couldn't find a brain in there."
"Do I need to beg you to talk now?" Tobias asked with a small smile, the now reddened man who's eyes glazed over with painful tears.
"What do you want to k-know?"
~~~
Tobias casually read over the rapidly rising reports Clara had printed out for him. He was glad he had left the company in rather capable hands as there had been zero conflict.
Robert ended up knowing not more than Sergei did and was unhelpful as the last two he had interrogated. All he had were names; Berlusconi/ Kent Wallace, Christopher Davis and Da Chri Da.
He suspected Chri Da was an abbreviation for Christopher Davis.
What a stupid name.
He quietly took a sip from the white wine Xavier had generously stocked his mini-fridge with, relishing the temporary sense of normalcy he was experiencing.
Concentrating on his work was a bit difficult with the thought of Eniola, nagging at the back of his mind.
She was invading his thoughts again.
Nothing new there.
He reminisced when he was on top of her. Her flushed face begging him for more.
Asking him to go deeper...
Tobias frowned at how obscene his thoughts had become. Where did that even come from?
A small knock tore him away from his thinking and for a moment, he hoped it was her.
He had not seen her all noon.
"Come in." He tried to ignore the disappointing feeling he had when Luca timidly walked into his office.
"Buenas tardes, jefe." Luca greeted. His demeanor was a little off-putting as his usually bright blue eyes were hidden behind wet hair.
"Hello, Luca. Do you need anything?" He asked, knowing how nervous the boy was in situations where he needed assistance.
"It is not that. I w-want to tell you something." He stuttered and Tobias raised an eyebrow at him.
"Did you get a girl pregnant?" Tobias joked, trying to ease the boy of his tension but frowned as Luca shook his head.
"N-no. It is not that too."
He laughed it off, knowing Lucado had been interested in relationships with women. Just like his older brother.
"Alright, Luca. Sit down and tell me what the problem is." Tobias suggested pointing at the chair next and Luca shook his head again.
"I want to stand, jefe. Please do not be... Upset." His frown deepened as he saw the distraught look on the boy's face. "It's about my visit to Dubai. I'm sorry I did not tell you sooner."
Tobias waved it off. "It's alright. I just need you to tell me beforehand so I can know what you are up to. The deal with your father, remember?"
The boy only nodded and Tobias found his eyes narrowing.
"Luca, what did you do?" He asked carefully seeing as he shrunk back at every word. Why on earth is he so petrified?
He rose to his feet after hearing a sniffle from his godson.
"Luca..." He asked softly. "What is the problem?"
He was caught by surprise when Luca dropped to his feet. The fuck?
"I did not mean to, jefe. I really did not mean to." The boy's completely broken voice knocked Tobias a few steps back.
He did not understand what was going on.
"Calm down, Luca. And please stand up." He said awkwardly. He never really knew how to comfort people and their emotions.
Luca's blubbery seemed to stop after a few minutes of Tobias weirdly standing in front of him.
"Are you alright now?" He asked after the boy had finally settled down.
He sat opposite to Luca who nervously wiped his nose with his oversized hoodie.
"I am sorry for acting like this. I know I have taken you off the guard." He apologized quietly, finding the tiled floor more interesting to look at. "I should have done more research before I accepted the job. I should have -"
"Well you are not wrong about the off-guard part." Tobias commented, still watching Luca's fidgety actions. "What is the problem?" He asked curiously.
He wanted to know why the boy was losing his shit.
"I-I-"
"You have to calm down and talk to me." He stiffly put a reassuring hand on Luca's shoulder making the boy flinch.
"I am afraid of what you will do when I tell you."
What on Earth did you do then?!
Tobias sighed softly and tried to give him a soft smile, ignoring the anxiety that was gathering ground within him.
"Just tell me. You have come this far." He encouraged and the boy dropped his face into his trembling palms.
"I know him." Tobias managed to hear him.
"Who do you know?" He asked, watching as Luca wiped his runny nose again with his sleeve.
Tobias was more comfortable imagining that he would burn that sweater after the entire mess it had been through.
"Christopher Davis. I've known him for two weeks now." He muttered with Tobias leaning into his chair.
He found it strange that he had only known the man for a few days. He however decided to thread very carefully.
"How? Did he ask you to do a job?" He asked lightly and Luca nodded.
"Yes, he just gave me the code name and his location. I did not even meet him in person." The boy almost whispered. Tobias could sense that something was very wrong.
"What code name?"
"Il creatore di chiavi..."
"He gave you Anthony's information?" He asked worriedly and Luca nodded hesitantly.
His eyes widened.
"Do not tell me you followed through with it." He had a feeling of dread crawl down his spine when Luca could not reply.
The fuck?!
"Lucado, where's Anthony?" He questioned with something that resembled disbelief lacing his voice.
"He... He's-"
"He is what?!" Tobias finally lost his mind as he pushed himself off the chair. "What the fuck happened to Anthony?!"
His mind failed to register how close Luca was to wetting himself as he screamed at him.
"He-he's dead." Luca managed to mutter.
"Do not fucking stutter when I talk to you!" He pulled the boy up by his hair. "Where. Is. Anthony?"
"He's dead." The fearful look in the Luca's eyes said it all.
He had fucked up. Big time.
Tobias glared at him for a hard second before pushing him away.
"And how the fuck did that happen?!" He growled at the boy who could not even look him in the eyes.
It seemed like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him.
"I-" He caught his own stutter after one sharp look from Tobias. "I killed him-"
Tobias interrupted him with a sharp backhand across his face, pushing him to the ground.
"Get the fuck up!" He ordered as Luca scrambled to his feet, still a shaking wreck.
He tried to fight back the more temptation of taking the bread knife on his table and keep his anger at a reasonable level... Well a more reasonable level.
"He was a member of this family, for God's sake!" He growled. "Go report to Alva-"
He was not able to finish his sentence as Luca fell to his feet once again in fear.
"Please, Jefe, he'll kill me." He pleaded and Tobias kicked him off.
"If you don't get out of here right now, I'll be the one killing you." His voice turned deadly to the child he took as his godson. "Get out."
Lucado stared at him with tear-filled eyes before nodding and finally succumbing to his fate.
Tobias tiredly collapsed on his chair as soon as he heard the door close.
The day only grew worse.
What was Luca thinking? How could he kill another member of the family? What twisted form of deja Vu is this shit?
He did not know how the rest would react to the news. Hell, Varo was going to take the news worse. There was no way he would miss the opportunity to compare Luca to Felicio.
Of course, they had a knack for killing fellow members. Of every other thing.
Anthony had did nothing but serve Tobias. He was as loyal as any of the Cinco Grande could be seeing that he was just an ordinary member.
"Why is this so messed up?" He grumbled, feeling a headache at the side of his head.
He would need to have a proper conversation with Luca. His conscience almost pitied the boy and he found it hard to call him a traitor.
He also tried to convince himself that Varo would not hurt him more than necessary.
Staring at the redness on his hand the amount of hair he had between his fingers, he decided he had already done some damage.
But why would he fuck up so badly?
A gentle knock sounded on his door for the second time that day and he felt anxious to know who was behind it.
He was mentally exhausted to deal with any of the men. Especially Varo if he had heard.
He did not know whether to be relieved or tensed as Eniola walked through.
How would he tell her that her manager had been killed? Worse still, by his own clan member?
"Hey." She called lightly, giving him a small smile.
He felt a little bit better that she was on talking terms with him and that she was wearing just his pink sweater.
"Hey." He greeted back, forcing the distress in his voice away and dusting away the hair follicles on his palm.
She leaned on his desk, completely ignoring the empty chair on her right and took sip from his glass.
"I came to check on you. You don't look too well." She pointed out tipping his jaw so she could have a better look.
He simply nodded at her observation. He did not know what to tell her.
He sure couldn't tell her about Anthony.
Not yet.
"How did your day go?" He asked, seeing it was almost evening and she just shrugged.
"Well, I was hanging with Vittore..." She started casually, tracing along his hairline. Of course.
The image of Vittore being a battered punching bag would have made Varo proud.
"...until Alvaro came with Clara and we had to play games." She continued, giving Tobias a knowing smirk. "Then Luca came and wanted to talk to Alvaro so I guess we all parted ways after that." Tobias mood dimmed the more as he understood what was happening.
Luca had gone straight to Alvaro.
"Give me a moment?" He said, quickly fetching his phone and sending a short message to Alvaro. Eniola raised a brow but said nothing. "I guess you had fun?" He remarked and Eniola nodded, leaning closer to him, her fingernails still casually picking at his hair.
"Yes. I just kept wondering how Varo knew we were in the game room and appeared all of a sudden." She pointed out. "Did you ask him to ruin my date, Tobi?" She asked and Tobias shook his head honestly.
He didn't ask Varo to interfere but was obviously glad he did.
"That's too bad. I thought the night would end with kissing him." Eniola said quietly, leaning closer to him.
"Please don't say that." He pleaded, feeling extremely bothered by how hot her gaze made him feel.
"Do you not want me kissing other people?" She taunted seductively with a small smirk. "Do you not want me being this close to other people?"
Her voice was merely a whisper as her vodka-wine induced breath fanned his earlobe. He found it extremely difficult to hold in a moan when her fingernails dug into his shoulder blade. He found it hard to be disappointed when he realized he liked the pain.
"No." He croaked out.
He was not mentally strong enough to reject her advances. Hell, he wondered if he would ever be strong enough.
"Then tell me Tobias—" She pulled away by only an inch, her lips nearly touching his, "—what exactly do you want?"
She seemed to know the exact way to force an answer out of him as she pressed into his skin further and grazed his bottom lip with her pierced tongue.
"You, I want you. Fuck."
Luca could definitely wait.
~~~