Coming Back Home

Family Secrets and the Dentist

"So," I begin. "What are we going to do about the German mafia?"

Matteo POV

Nonno speaks up. "What about the German mafia?" I gaze at him blankly. "Our traitorous guest revealed some... information about his boss. It turns out that Friedrich Schulz is behind it."

"That dumb asshole just can't let go. Now, he's going after my daughter." Dad clenches his fist in anger. "It's time we take care of the Germans once and for all."

[A/N: Just want to pop in and say that I have no bad feelings about German people. It's just for story purposes.]

Uncle Fernando poses a question. "Do you think the Russians will help us? He might try to go after Sasha and Misha, too." Dad looks to me to answer. "They probably will. The Antonovs are coming over for dinner tomorrow night, so we can ask them then."

Nonna looks at me with a smile. "Dom and Ana, too, honey?" I inwardly cringe at the pet name. "Yes, Nonna. They will be here as well as Nikolai and Katerina." She claps happily. "Oh, good. It's been a while."

Dad clears his throat, directing attention to him. "So, what's the plan? We can at least think about it." I understand his desperation. I also want to protect Giada. "I could call Schulz," I suggest. Dad's head flashes to mine. "You have his number?"

I look at Francesco sideways, smirking. "Adrian got it for me." Francesco looks down, blushing and smiling to himself. It's amusing how he gets when Adrian is mentioned.

"Dad, do you want to be the one to talk to him?" I ask. He thinks about it for a second, then nods. "Yes, I'll do it." Xander looks between Dad and me. "So, we're just doing this?" he questions angrily. "Right now, he still might not know that his man inside is compromised. The guy just talked to him yesterday. We have the advantage."

He brings up a fair point. Antonio chimes in. "I mean, he's not wrong." I hold up my hand to stop them from talking. I sit back in my chair to think. No, Xander's right. We should wait.

I nod at him. "We will wait until tomorrow. For now, let's just go over what we know about the German mafia. Dad?" Dad knows more about them than I do, so I let him take the lead.

"The German mafia is led by Friedrich Schulz. He is mid to late forties, so he's between the ages of Nikolai and me. Schulz was always a little shit. Nik and I used to mess with him a lot." He chuckles as he seems to be reliving his past.

"He couldn't take a joke, the loser. He has always hated us. Frankly, he should be thanking us. Without us, he never would have been motivated to get stronger and tougher. He wouldn't be the Capo."

The room is silent until Giovanni speaks. "Um, uncle Sandro. I'm not condoning his actions at all. He is trying to hurt our princess. But, it sounds like you bullied him," he says timidly. I do kind of agree, but it was brave to say it aloud.

Dad looks pissed. He glares at Giovanni and snaps at him. "What do you know?" Before it can go further, uncle Lorenzo jumps in. "Okay, okay. Fratello, back off my kid [brother]. Figlio, don't disrespect your uncle [son]. Why don't we take a break? Matteo?" I nod in agreement.

"That's a good idea, zio [uncle]. In fact, let's just stop for today. We can pick this up with the Antonovs tomorrow." I wave my hand toward the exit, indicating that everyone should leave. "Dad, wait. If you could please stay back," I stop Dad from leaving.

Once everyone has left and we are the only two who remain, I share my thoughts. "Dad, I won't embarrass you in front of the family, but it is just the two of us here. Giovanni was not wrong." He glares at me. "Matteo, just because you-"