3

Nicola's POV:

"Gather the men Luca," I tell Luca. "We have to head out in ten minutes. Get Stefano too, Dad wants him to come on more missions."

"Where are we going today?" Luca asks as he turn the door knob.

"Vieste," I reply, "now hurry. We still need to pack supplies. You also need to change." Luca chuckles before he leaves the the room, wearing his bright red shirt.

I get off my chair and walk to the closet. I pull on my bullet proof vest and leather jacket before I head out to the garage. My little sister, Aurora is putting on a pair of heels once I reach the door. My combat boots are sitting by the door so I slip them on before I go to open the door.

"Where to now fratello?" She asks before I go into the garage.

"I could ask you the same question," I retort, "you're certainly dressed up."

"Dad needs me to get him something," she shrugs as she straps on her heel.

"Dressed like that?" I scoff, "that's a little short, go change."

"No," she replies, "I happen to like the dress, and besides it goes to my knees!"

"Too short," I reply curtly, "go change."

"You think you can demand me around like the guys," she giggle before pinching my cheek, "how cute."

Aurora smirks before she walks past me and into the garage. I groan as I follow her out and see her get into the Ferrari with one of the younger guys, Antonio. "This better be a mission!" I call out to them.

"Go ask Dad!" She calls out the window. She stuck her hand out of the window, as Antonio reverses out of the garage, and flips me off.

"Sir, the cars are ready," Mario tells me. I nod in response and he walks off. We tend to take cars instead of vans because large black vans following each other in the daylight is conspicuous.

Stefano then walks out with Luca, adjusting his belt as he does. I roll my eyes as my little brother can't loop it right. "Maybe you should stay here Stef," I joke, "you can't even dress yourself."

"Stronzo," Stef mumbles as he finally gets his belt right, "Dad said I could start going on missions so I am."

"I'm not sure," I tease, "you're only sixteen."

"You started at fourteen!" Stef argues back and I chuckle.

"Get in the car, you're with Luca, Mario and me," I tell him. "Do you have a vest on?" He nods and adjusts the gun in his belt. Stefano walks over to the car we are taking and gladly takes the front seat.

"Figlio di puttana stole my seat," Luca says and I shove his shoulder.

"Is our car packed?" I ask and he nods.

"Angelo and Giovanni are finishing the other two right now," Luca tells me, "you're dad said he's staying here to keep an eye on Aurora. She has her first mission without either of you."

"What is it? Papà never mentioned one," I ask as we make our way over to the car."She has to steal this ring," he tells me, "it's from Fenice. They stole it from some girl. Apparently it dates back to Edward I wife Bianca. It's worth almost a billion dollars if returned to the royal family."

"Papà would never turn down easy money," I chuckle before I get in. "Vieste arriviamo."

"How long of a drive is this?" Stefano asks me as I wait for the other cars to be ready.

"Five hours," I tell him and he groans, mumbling 'the one mission I come on,' underneath his breath. He takes his headphones out of his pocket and plugs them into his phone before he leans back in his seat and shuts his eyes.

"The other cars are ready boss," Mario tells me and I start to drive. We only have twelve men coming, including me, because this mission isn't huge. We are dealing with a small group of drug dealers at port in Vieste, right next to the family hotel actually.

"Musica?" Luca asks and I look at him through the rear view mirror.

"Headphones," Stefano speaks up, "you know he doesn't like music. Especially when we are going on a mission."

"Shut up bambino," Luca retorts and crosses his arms over his chest, "this is only your second mission any Bambino, sta' zitto."

"Shut up, both of you," Mario speaks up before he covers his face with his hat again. Mario is one that likes to keep to himself. He's also my cousin so he is high up in leadership. He's either fourth or fifth, I can't remember.

"Only five hours Nicolas," I mutter to myself, "five more hours of inferno."

"Get over yourself," Stef rolls his eyes. I glare at my younger brother before I slam on the brakes, sending his face inches away from the dash board. "Bastardo," he spits out as he pushes his hands off the dashboard.

"Well keep your mouth shut," I tell him with a smirk, "otherwise you'll only go on missions with Dad."

"Oh hell no," Stef laughs humorlessly, "That man whispers everything to you, 'next step, be careful' of 'don't breath too loud.' He literally tells me the basic way on how to stay alive, something you learn when you are born!"

"You're his youngest son," I try to reason, "he just wants to protect you."

"You were allowed to do anything at my age," Stefano scoffs, "he hardly lets me leave the house. At my age you had already been through tons of girlfriends. Me? The only girls I meet are the wives and daughters of other members. And I can't talk to any of them because their dads will want to kill me. It's stupid."

"He's just looking out for you," I say with a soft smile, "Maybe he doesn't want you to turn out like me. I'm twenty-eight and single. At twenty-eight Dad already had two kids."

"How can I get a wife when I don't know a girl?" he sighs, "Well one that I could date anyway."

"When you turn eighteen I'm going to take you out," I tell him, "we can do whatever you like. Promettere."

"That's almost two years away!" Stefano complains.

"A year and a couple months. Your birthday is coming up in two months," I remind him, "August 14."

"The most dreaded day in our house," Stefano sighs once more. With that comment, I can't help but agree. Birthdays at our house are blown way out of proportion. Mom throws a huge party with hundreds of people. Dad takes you out so you can have a "normal" day for once. Also you get to dance with mom(Aurora dances with Dad) in front of everybody. Now it's not so bad, but when you are a teenager and you want to be the "bad boy" so all the girls will fall for you, it sucks.

"Don't kiss the exit," Mario points out when I'm less than fifty feet away. I swerve on to the exit ramp and see Mario shaking his head with a small smirk.

"You drive home then," I chuckle as he adjusts the hat over his face.

Translation:

Stronzo: asshole

Figlio di puttana: son of a bitch

Papà: dad

arriviamo: we come

Musica: music

Bambino: child

sta' zitto: shut up

Promettere: to promise