TROUBLE

eighteen

Vincenzo's POV (Papa)

"Well my story time is over. Your next famiglia."

She wiped the leftover tears from her face, before smiling directly at me.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect. This meeting isn't exactly going how I had imagined. I wasn't sure what I expecting when a meeting was set with Raven: The Hunter, as she was referred to often. But expecting my daughter, yeah that was definitely not it.

She has killed and tortured more people than I could count on my two hands, she has surely killed more than some of our best, even Giovanni and Flavio.

We are always saw her as innocent, calm and we wanted to protect her from this world, but she was already involved.

She got involved to help others, she chose to put herself in danger to save others from a fucking asshole who manipulated others. She saved so many lives just from being herself.

And she was so goddamn fucking young

To know she was put into danger because of Villin, it enrages me further, I want nothing more than to see Demetri Villin 6 feet underground for messing with my daughter, my tesoro.

She sits expectantly, joking with Cyrus as she showcases the knives she was hiding in her boot. Showing him tricks and teaching him how best to attack someone. He tries to copy to only to fail miserably, accidentally slicing his finger.

She wasn't just the Italia Principessa, she had the strength to be the Regina (Queen).

She's got courage, she's stubborn, she is the perfect addition to this world. She was a carbon copy of her grandmother. My mamma was insanely strong willed, she shot my papa the first day they met surprisingly.

***

"Well Cesca as you already know we are the mafia. One of the families within the Italian Syndicate." She nods, her face remaining emotionless. 

"We mainly stay away from conflict which is ironic since everyone is after our power. We mostly deal guns to other mafia's, and reluctantly the police and the FBI, it stops them from arresting us. But the police are on our payroll so they tend to ignore our business. We cover all of our dodgy dealings with the main company, but also through hotels, casinos, and other mini investments. The only time we are in conflict is when the power hungry Russians think they are stronger. We just proves them otherwise."

"Yeah, exactly like that. That's why we own a lot of circuit." She scoffs, while I look at her questioning the scoff.

"You own like 5%, that's why a majority of the fighters are in association with the Italian Mafia, the rest I shared between some of my other affiliations and  me and my guys. I mean we do handle the bets."

"Wait- seriously?" Adriano asks astonished.

I am too, we don't deal with bets we leave that to the actual fighters. All our guys provide is protection and entertainment.

"Well yeah, the fighters are unreliable, Zeke is a fighter, they goes by Cobra. They was telling us how fucked up the betting system is so I went in and dealt with it. With a lot of reluctancy from the 'big shot' fighters, who are misogynistic assholes." She ended with a shrug of her shoulder, as if it's nothing.

"How much shit do you own?"

"More than I can even recall. But there's the circuit, Vinato Collective and so on. That's why I am good with negotiating or dealing with dickheads. I do it all the time."

There was for sure a double meaning in there, probably aimed at her brothers.

The Vinato Collective is a non profit organisation that until now was run by an anonymous source. It provides children from disadvantaged backgrounds opportunities strive in education and expand on their talents. Sending thousands of kids every year to Ivy League schools and international internships.