Marco's P.O.V:
"Are you fucking serious?" Tess storms up to me and grabs me by the collar, dragging me to my study.
"How'd you know where I was?", I ask; not bothered to act oblivious.
"You're damn lucky I'm the only one that does know, we've got a raid planned for 3am and yet you went out partying? Right now the others think that you just went out to prepare so you better pull your act together."
"Firstly, I didn't go out partying". She stops walking, pulls me down by the collar and smells my breathe.
"Good"
"No one saw me", I lie.
"Really?", Tess crosses her arms obviously not believing me.
"If they did, do you really think I'd be standing here right now?"
She pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs, "Stefano is allied with the Russians, you need to remember your place in this mafia, if you even slip up slightly they'll know. I don't think Dmitry likes the idea of his allied heir being a recluse"
"I have it under control", I promise.
"You fucking better, because it's 1am and you need to give a briefing before we unleash hell on the Spanish", she opens the door where Tess, Diego and Mateo are standing.
"Get out of my chair, Mat" I deadpan.
"Well you're no fun", he rolls his eyes and gets up swiftly.
There's a slight tension in the air, possibly a nervousness- either way, it's my job to abolish that.
"Make this quick boss we don't have much time", I nod and hurry to my armchair where a file sits at the desk with the mission stats. Diego comes to my side and passes out everybody's files.
"In each of your files is an in-depth description of your task tonight, just for the sake of it I'll briefly go through everyone's jobs tonight. We won't have any back up but since the wedding is currently happening, we'll have time."
"I hope this job doesn't cause them to post-pone their honeymoon" Diego mumbles quietly and Mateo muffles a laugh.
I sigh at their antics, "Tess, you're on standby as per usual checking surveillance and radars. Diego and Cass will be paired up, you'll be setting up the explosions and if you check your file it'll show who you have to put to sleep", Cass smirks at this and nudges Diego playfully. "Mat's with me, the guy who runs this base keeps all of the data on the Spanish, if we download it then we're one step closer to taking them down"
"Just the four of us?" Mateo asks.
"Five" Tess reminds him.
It may seem slack that Tess isn't involved in many physical missions but it's for her own safety. She's a sister to me and because of that I need to keep her protected, with Ray gone if she's on tech then that's the best way she can keep on her feet- I don't see the need to participate in these missions anyways, they're all involuntary. "This isn't the first time we've dealt with numbers, it's good exercise anyways I can't remember the last time I was out in the field"
Diego scoffs, "Alright team, let's fucking rock this boat, or whatever the saying is"
"That was disgusting", Tess crinkles her nose and leaves the room.
"We'll meet at the van in 25" I order and they all hurry out to gear up.
Tess has been driving for an hour, the base was further than anticipated but we'll still have time to do the job. Like most of their territory, the base is located at a loading dock. It's one of the biggest bases they've got but I've been given strict orders to retrieve all their personal information and blow up any evidence. Even his absence is somehow scarier than when he's at base, Stefano is the devil sitting on my shoulder.
"I've got eyes on all units around the base. Cass and Diego you guys are heading South East, there's currently 7 guards patrolling that area so stay cautious. D'anglo's you're to go to the North side, right now I can see 9 guards and your target." Tess looks up from her monitor and at all of us with nervous eyes, "We've just got to get through these few raids and we'll be free again"
Diego sends her a weak smile before then hardening his features, "Just because we've got two less people than you two doesn't mean we're not going to make this competition."
Mateo raises his brows, "You're on Russo"
"Let's just at least try to get out of here alive" Cass sighs, growing frustrated.
"I can't promise you that much" I send Cass a wink and she sends me a glare.
"Alright seriously get out of here it's 2:30am" Tess pushes me slightly and then returning to set up all of her monitors surveying the area.
Turning on night-vis, I signal to Mateo to see if he's ready to go. He swings his sniper over his back and puts on his gloves, Mateo has always been cautious but since he found me in that club he's been extra cautious around me. Even Diego suggested if it's better if I take some time off work before I started working again.
I don't want to be helped, I don't want time to think; when I'm alone with myself that's when bad things happen. Everything has been happening too quickly and yet I feel like I'm going nowhere. Stefano and Dmitry are planning something, something big and I don't even have the slightest idea about what it is. To be honest, I'm scared. This is going to be my empire and still I'm treated like just another foot soldier.
As for the Spanish, we're going to hit them where it hurts. If I can't focus on my own mafia it's better if I at least focus on the Spanish. These tasks Stefano has set are merely chores to him (chores that could get his best killed), so there's no point in taking pride in what we're doing because it's inevitably meaningless.
"Did you hear what I said?" Mateo says through his speaker. I hum in confusion, obviously too lost in my own thoughts to concentrate on what's been happening.
His sigh is heard through my gear, "I said, what if I climb up onto these containers, that way I can set up my sniper and we can finish this job quick"
"Absolutely not, for all we know they could have snipers from every angle of this place. I can't risk you being out in the open"
"You don't have to be so protective, considering it's been you who's been the most reckless lately"
"Don't" I threaten him with a bitterness in my tone, I don't need to be reminded.
He shakes his head and continues to walk throughout the base, facing his gun at every alleyway and lurking as he walks. From the blueprints, the base consists of a bottom area purely of containers filled with whatever. Then a loading dock for cargo ships and finally a lookout where Mateo and I need to go.
"I think that this is it"
I look up at the building then down at my location of my screen, sending him a tight nod I signal for him to start moving. Mateo gears himself up by hooking the rope to his belt, he tugs on it for safe measure and begins his ascend to the inside of the building.
I do the same. Mateo doesn't wait for me though, apparently having adopted a grudge towards me. We avoided all paths where there were patrolling guards but for extra caution Mateo points his gun on top of the roof and looks through his snipe to see if anyone is on top. He signals with two fingers at me and then releases the trigger twice, the silencer making only the thump of bodies heard. I climb on top of the building and jog over to the guards to check for any evidence.
Mateo pulls down his balaclava, "What if we changed into their gear?"
"It's probably bloodied, but it's similar to our, just grab their face protection and id so we can get into the building", I order and we both in a swift motion grab their stuff- carefully avoiding the faces of the men to make ourselves feel less guilty.
We're killers, that's what we're born and raised to do. It'll catch up with us one day, the guilt of everyone we've murdered; but everyone in this industry are there for a reason, and death is inevitable.
We make our way through the door, Mateo takes the lead and I stay at his behind to make sure no one sneaks up from behind us. "This is the door" Mateo whispers over the comms and I nod.
He bangs down the door, the man who runs the place flinches at our arrival.
"Get on the fucking ground!" I yell and he does so obediently, I force my foot onto his back and secure a rope around him.
Mateo starts hacking away at the data, the man tries to yell and I shoot him into his shoulder, "I didn't think I'd have to explain what would happen if you didn't comply" I lean down to him with an evil smirk.
"Nice to see you're back, perhaps you never went soft after all" Mateo whispers through his mic.
I've never been good with gadgets so Mateo does most of the work. I force the man onto a chair and secure him onto it tightly. Grabbing my flask out of my pocket, I allow a drop of the pure alcohol to fall into his left eye. He screams again and I laugh at his pain.
"Alright calm down you sadistic fuck" Mateo sighs.
"Almost done?" I take off my mask and walk over to him.
"Just got the last of it, lets get the fuck out of here, Mateo takes his mask off.
The man gapes dumbly, "D'Angelo's" He stutters.
I grab him by his collar and pull him close so that his ear is at my mouth, "If you were curious, we're not going to kill you" I pause for a second and stand upright, "At least not directly.
The man starts yelling again as we leave the building to return back to the van.
"Welcome back, Marco D'Angelo" Mateo clasps my shoulder.
"Marco we've got a problem" Diego says nervously through the radio.
"Is it the explosives? Did you not do it properly?" I look to Mateo who has the same nervous expression as me.
"It's the cops" Cass curses
"How? I've got eyes on every area of this base, I haven't seen movement all night" Tess explains.
"Blindspot!" Mateo punches the wall and lets out a string of curses.
I look at him with a mix of emotions, "Let's get the fuck out of here"
"What do we need to do boss?" Cass asks.
"Get back to the van, we've got what we need and as soon as you see us I need you to blow up this place"
"It's on a timer, you've got 3 minutes tops"
This time I curse, Mateo and I start our sprint towards the van.
"I can hear them"
"Fuck how are we supposed to get to the van?"
"We use your idea and get on top of the containers"
Mateo smirks and grabs onto the bars and begins his climb. "Parkour?", he turns to me for permission.
"Parkour" I confirm.
As we jump from container to container we suddenly hear the sounds of yells.
I turn on my radio "Diego, Cass are you guys safe?"
"Just waiting for you two now" Cass confirms.
"The cops must of found the other guards, this is where we bolt" I tell Mateo and then jump down from the container.
He follows as well and starts running after me. Only 100 meters away is the van, I turn to my brother who smiles in return when we see Diego waiting outside the vehicle for us.
"How much time do we have left?" I ask through the radio.
"Ten seconds".
Nervously, we pick up our pace but are cut short by the sound of men yelling at us.
"It's the fucking cops!" Mateo yells.
I turn to him to respond but bangs of explosions start, Mateo lets out a whistle at the sound. Within a matter of seconds we are sent flying by the explosions as the whole place goes up in flames.
Diego hauls us up from the ground, "No time to talk, there's going to be cops all over the place if we don't get the hell out of here right now!", he shoves us into the van where the girls both release a sigh of relief.
"That was close"
"Too fucking close. How the fuck did the cops just know that we were there?" Diego raises his voice as Tess starts up the van.
I run a hand through my sweaty hair, "I don't know, but at least we got what we wanted. We just need to be careful next time"
"Were we not fucking careful though?" Cass asks
"Let's just get back to base so that we can get ready for the next raid" Tess tries to add.
"I'm so sick of this crap, when was the last time Stefano or Dmitry got their hands dirty?" Mateo asks.
I lean onto the wall of the van and wince as I try to steady my breathing, barely listening to them argue about everything.
Third POV:
"You let the feds know too soon, we can't have our whole operation blown over small mistakes"
"It wasn't a mistake. We're building a case"
"What if he was killed?"
"I'm okay with taking risks"
"So you don't feel anything towards him?"
"I'm doing this all to better him, also this was all your idea originally"
A pause, "Just let me know next time that you decide to feel risky"
"Are you ready to take back the girl?"
"They've kept her for too long, it's time to bring her back home"