C1 When something feels off...

"Update me on the progress of the I 600-A forms." I repeat myself once more, for the second time today, but this time I drag my eyes away from the numbers scribbled on the neatly stacked documents on the table in front of me to closely watch Elena, who was seated to the left side of me as she always was, sat rumbling through the mess of papers in front of her, that seem to be scattered all over the table.

Elena has never been this unfocused or unorganized in all of the 22 years that I have known her, infact I have never before met a woman that has taken so much pride in her work. This was a first for me to have asked her the same question twice and that two times in a row, something seemed off, but this wasn't the time to get into the personal life of the Head of Social Services in Italy. "I have five 'projects' that have to be dealt with by the end of the day." I nudge on the woman I felt so appreciative off of giving me my brother 22 years ago when my parents decided to adopt. I might have only been 5 years old, innocent and stupid little Bambino who never imagined the type of man that I would be today, but I now know that unconsciously that day is when the seed for my future was planted.

I have never been a man with a lot of patience and the silence the Boardroom was driving me up against the walls. "Why is this taking so long?" My voice was cold and hard, as was the dark oak wooden table beneath my palms, as I slowly placed my hands flat on either side of the stacked documents lying in front of me.

"I am sorry, Ben." She apologizes as her hazel eyes meets mine. She looked tired, but not in the way one would look caused by the lack of sleep, this was something more... emotional? They seem so much like my Dear old mother's eyes when she was worried about me for supposedly not eating enough. "I uh... only need a few more... things before I can close the dockets." She stutters halfway through her words, but recovers quickly once her eyes jump all over the place, but locks with mine once more the moment she was finished speaking and I immediately knew there was something not completely honest about her excuse. I wanted to call her out on the bullshit she was spewing right there and then, but rather decided against it, I knew that she wasn't able to keep that up for too much longer. She is not a very good liar and too much of an honest person. "I just need..." She tries again, but pauses mid-sentence and her eyes instantly fall to her now fumbling hands. She faced defeat.

"It is Adamo." She finally breaths and her words vibrated through my ears and crashed into my eardrums like small paper cuts, they might not have hurt, but they were irritating as fuck. That was one piece of shit that I could never stand to have in my presence. The mere thought of him made homicidal thoughts seem like a good idea. I wanted to strangle him with my own hands.

Adamo is Elena's son, her only child. He is also the person whom she insisted on handling the new birth certificates. Now usually I wouldn't have even considered it, but she was desperate and for once my brother convinced me to make a decision based on emotions. I regret it to this day, but I am nothing if not my word. "He was caught on some possession charges three days ago and I haven't heard anything from him since he called to get him a lawyer, but the problem is that when his lawyer went to the 'Policia' he was no longer in their custody. Apparently they moved him, but no-one can tell me to where." Elena finishes quickly before taking in a big breath of fresh air and the the waterworks began. Tears of worry or/and being afraid, I wasn't completely sure, streamed down the sides of her face and with good reason. This could have been dealt with already. She should have come to me the moment she received the phone call.

"Why the fuck am I only learning about this now?" I spit flames as I lean back in my chair raising my hands up in the air before dragging my hand through my silky black hair. 'I need a haircut.' I mentally remind myself. I slowly take in a cool deep breath of air to simmer down the burning sensation in my throat before continuing. "Possession of narcotics?' I breathe out, my voice almost feather-like and Elena nods her head, confirming my suspicion. Did I mention he was a coke addict? The fucking piece of shit.

"Achille." I straighten my back as I address my brother who is seated on my right hand side, watching me with intent dark blue eyes. "Track him down and get Angela on board so she can get this mess sorted out. I do not need this..." I pause as I bite down on my teeth trying to come up with a word to describe the situation, but unable to find one so I just continue not wasting another second. "...to become a thing and bite us in the ass." I state angrily.

"Right away." Achille nods taking his phone from the table and walks towards the door. I fold my arms over my chest as I watch him taking big strides as he does what he is told. If only everyone was so fucking great at it, I mentally roll my eyes at the irony. Achille might always do as he is told when it comes to the business as he is also seen us the 'underboss', but he knows as good as me that he is my equal. After all he is my brother and the only person I can trust with my life and I would lay down my life for him any day. Besides, he is the only one with the back to call me out on my opinions, I wouldn't call them mistakes.

"This is only a petty crime." Elena's voice twirls softly into the air drawing me from my thoughts and I turn my head to face her. "It was a stupid mistake. He didn't mean you any harm." She leans forward placing her elbows on the table as her hands support her head on either side. I wasn't sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. "He is my son." She whimpers through tears, pleading, that was where we were at right now.

"You vouched for him." I remind her. "You begged me to put my trust in him. You argued that it will help him and that it was his only hope of staying clean." I scowl. I suppose she thought that he would be too scared of me to go back to drugs, but addicts couldn't be scared like that, the only thing that scared them was the absence of more drugs. This wasn't getting me anywhere.

"I will take full responsibility for his mistakes." She pleads, showing no trust in her own son, making me more on edge. If she couldn't trust him how the fuck was I supposed to do that? What does she even mean by taking full responsibility for his mistakes? What kind of man allows his mother to do that? And that is when all the gears in my head turned and snapped at the conclusion. This was a mother pleading for her son's life.

"If he doesn't talk to the cops about any of this or his connection to my business no harm will become of him." I remark rising to my full 5.8 inches and turn my back to her. "Now leave." I order as I near the table at the back of the conference room, where a bottle of Old Armour is showcased on top of the dark oak wooden cabinet, matching the table, it probably came as a set my thoughts dwelled for a second before I pour myself a drink. I listen to Elena's footsteps growing soundless. I do not usually chase anyone out of a meeting, but her pleading and crying was distracting.