Kenzi.

Aurelio's heart dropped into his boots as his face went slack, turning immediately to look at the girl again. Was Bella fucking with him? It didn't seem like it, but still what were the odds that she'd dig up a scared girl with that name to march onto his doorstep? And one who needed the sort of help he could provide? What the hell did that mean?

 "...have you killed a man before and are you willing to do it again if it's asked of you?"

 Oh...shit.

That's what it meant. The poor girl needed someone handled. Kenzi needed someone handled.

God, the thought alone of the splatter amidst the boom of sound and all the sensations that followed was enough to set his stomach to twisting. He knew that he'd been threatened and he had every right to do what he did, but it didn't allay the feeling. He tried to remind himself that it was all in the past, but the question made it clear that it wasn't going to stay that way. He'd known since he settled here that it would come up sooner or later, but he'd been purposely holding back and avoiding the topic for as long as he could.

He took a deep breath and swallowed hard, reaching for his open drink to take a swig before responding. He tried to keep a strong face as he lifted his eyes to Don Byrne, if only for the unfamiliar guest, but a keen observer would see how his neck and shoulders bunched with tension.

"Yes. I have."

Could he really do it again? Could he watch a man turned into meat in an instant all because he'd made the decision that it should be so? Was he willing to take that step and play God just because someone else asked him to? It wouldn't be a response this time but a choice of his own making. It would risk well and truly damning his soul.

Aurelio turned a bit to cast a sidelong glance in the girl's direction once more. Would he do so for a girl he'd barely even met? No.

But would he do it for Kenzi?

His mind drifted to all manner of things that might earn a man such an end on behalf of someone like her. Each crime and violent act that ran through his mind being committed to someone like her, barely younger than himself, was another little piece of kindling on a pile in his heart that soon became a pyre waiting a spark.

For a moment, his thoughts changed the face staring back at him into that of the only other woman of that name he'd ever known.

"If it needs to be done then I'll do it in a heartbeat."

The pyre was lit. But what's a pyre without a body?

Bella watched an internal struggle play out on the boy's features and behind his eyes.  She knew what she was asking.  It was a thing she didn't want to put into Gavin's hands and so once again she was leaning on William... or, in this case, William's blood.  She suspected that he'd accept but it made her feel better seeing that he didn't do so quickly. 

If he had she' wonder either if she misjudged the boy or if he'd been lying and had never killed anyone.  Sometimes the young, as she'd been once, want to get their first kill so badly they rush out all fire and brimstone only to be left a shattered husk after facing the person they really are in the wake of pulling the trigger.

Bella keenly remembered her first kill and many of the others that followed.  It took years before the deaths began to blur together and she didn't feel that horror that always came with killing.  The crazy thing was, Bella knew she could be bloodthirsty.  She thrilled in having power over others and watching for that moment, that instant, that they broke behind their eyes and gave over to her.  Whether it was half-a-heartbeat before death or in the long slow lead up to it, the rush was better than any drug she'd ever tried.  Only now, as a much older and ideally wiser woman, did she realize how sorry a thing it was that she found joy in that.

Bella nodded at the boy's answer and gave him the barest hint of a smile, satisfied with what he'd said and how he said it.

"This girl was being kept against her will."  She began, watching how Aurelio took in the details, putting a hand on Kenzi to support her and reassure her.  "Her captor has other women as his prisoner still."

Then, at the risk of insulting Kenzi she corrected herself, "Girls."

Bella paused, clearly troubled by the story she was sharing.

"He's using them as slaves.  They run his drugs and other things that I'll leave to your imagination.  Kenzi made her break from the monster and fled - I found her today and I'm going to help her get back on her feet.  Whether she stays with our operation or not, isn't the point.  The girl needs help, her friends need help, and I need to stop this monster from preying on young women not much older than my own daughter."

Bella's reasons for latching on to Kenzi were not laid out clearly.  Aurelio had met Aurora several times in passing now.  The happy dark-haired beauty with so much passion for life was a friend to every low-man on the Race Street books.  She was a frequent visitor at some of the less-seedy hangouts with her father and was known to already be an accomplished brawler despite her age and size.  While there were several years between Kenzi and Aurora in age, those years were all too short for a mother who loved her little girl and wanted to protect her from the monsters who she often dealt with. 

Bella was protecting Kenzi in the same way she would want her own daughter protected... and avenged.  She couldn't bear the thought of this monster being allowed to continue breathing the same air as the rest of the world, not so long as her own daughter might grow up and fall prey to him.  So it was that he had to be stopped permanently, and for a task of this nature, she trusted too few people.

Bella turned her attention to Kenzi and spoke to her in a quiet and motherly tone,  "Kenzi, I need you to tell Aurelio everything you can about Angelo.  I need you to try and remember details about how he looks, how tall is he, marks on his body, cars he drives, people he hangs out with... things he likes to do for fun, drinks he prefers, any vices he has... does gamble, do drugs?"

She frowns, knowing this isn't the best way to find a man but Gavin could hunt a man on less than this so she hoped that Aurelio had been doing his homework too.  If not, the old Wolf would have to come to help the young pup learn his trade and Bella greatly wanted to avoid that.

"All of these things will help us know the sort of places he might go when he gets to Philly and starts looking for you.  I know he'll visit places that you might hide... but that's too narrow a scope for Aurelio to search in.  He needs as much information as you can provide and I promise you that we will find him and he won't ever hurt you again.  With any luck at all, we'll find all the other girls and set them free as well."

Hearing her own story repeated, Kenzi could barely believe she'd managed to get away. Moreover, her incredible luck in stumbling on Bella Byrne and all the connections she seemed to have. Whoever these people were, it seemed likely that they were more powerful than Angelo. But, did that mean more dangerous? 

Now in the spotlight, Kenzi took a deep, shaky breath and nodded as Bella asked her to talk about Angelo. What she was about to do would get her killed if he ever got his hands on her again. It would be the greenhouse, or worse, if that was possible. With her hands wrung tightly together and green eyes scarcely meeting those of the man before her, she began. 

"His name is Angelo Falucci. He's a drug dealer on the Upper East Side in New York. He doesn't make the drugs, but he sells more than anyone around because he can move it without getting caught. That's what I had to do, me and the other girls."

The man's face was clear as day in her mind - probably always would be - but Kenzi closed her eyes anyway to concentrate. 

​​​​​​"He's tall. I don't know how tall, but he's taller than almost all of his men. I think he's in his 50s, but he's really strong for his age. One of the girls said she saw him fighting a guy once and threw him around like a rag doll. He's mostly bald, but has dark gray hair around the back of his head, from ear to ear. Um...he has a scar over his right eye- a long one that doesn't look like it it was stitched right or something. It's crooked. But he has very mean eyes, he's always scowling."

Her stomach felt heavy with nerves as she opened her eyes, shoving some errant stands of hair behind her ear. 

​​​​​​"He...he has eyes all over the city; that's why we could never get away. All his men know the girls, and they would find us if we got lost or tried to get away. One girl managed to get to the police department, but she was followed and they took her right out of the bathroom at the station. She went to the greenhouse, and ee never saw her again. Angelo didn't seem to go out much for anything other than work. I never saw a woman with him other than Roxy. She was an older woman who was supposed to deal with us. Mostly she just herded us into the storage room when it was time to sleep, or would take us one at a time when Angelo or his guys...wanted us. But, he liked to play cards a lot. He would bet on the games, and he'd get really mad if he lost."

She stopped for a few moments, trying ty think of anything else that would be helpful. 

"He would yell about his boss, the guy he sold drugs for. I think his name was...Paulson? Something like that. I saw him once. He looked very rich. But I don't know anything else about him."

Kenzi glanced up to Aurelio, then to Bella. 

"Was that...right? Will that help?" 

Bella's mouth went dry.

"Paulson... you said he looked rich.  Did he... was he an overweight man?  Did um... have... breasts?"  She knew it was an odd question but if this was Durden's guy there really was no other thing she could call them.  The man had fucking tits bigger than her head on each side of his chest.

Kenzi blinked a few times, as the question struck her as kind of funny, but also with a touch of apprehension that Bella seemed to know the man. She swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. If Bella was somehow connected to Mr. Paulson, Kenzi may have just signed her own death warrant. Her face blanched, but she nodded slowly.

Bella sighed and looked at Aurelio.  "Tyler Durden is behind this operation."

She stood up.  "Maybe I should have Gavin handle this, you don't need to make an enemy of Durden like your old man did... and certainly not doing something I asked of you."

She kept a hand on Kenzi to comfort her.  "This Angelo shit is well within your abilities but off'ing him will come with a heavy price tag... you'll never have any hope of going back from this life after that.  I ... I can't ask that of you."

This just kept getting better and better. The man was right in his old backyard and he'd have plenty of contacts to work with to help find the son of a bitch. It would mean mending some bridges that he let fall when he stayed in Philadelphia, but surely he could swing it with the help of a few little gifts here and there. He'd be more than willing for the kind of man that would run things the way this girl had described. It would be dangerous to take on a guy that experienced, but he could already see a few openings he could take advantage of from Kenzi's description.

But Paulson was another matter. Anyone who'd been on the wrong side of the cops in New York knew that name and knew well enough to fear it. He was one of the inner circle of his family, one of the oldest and most dangerous on the streets that wouldn't hesitate to cross the sorts of lines that would be unthinkable for a proper outfit. Then again, every time the Durden name had been mentioned in Philadelphia it had always been the sort of thing mentioned in the past tense and close to the word "handled".

Add to that the fact that the Durdens had recently threated Aurelio and really there was nothing to lose.

"The Durdens were going to be an enemy the moment I left home and fell in with Race Street."

He smiled for the first time since the women had entered his apartment. In truth, he was nervous as hell and knew that if he so much as took another drink from his bottle that it would make a return trip from his flip flopping gut, but that wasn't what this girl needed to see. She needed someone to stand up and show her that a person can stand up to the kind of monsters that she left behind.

And Aurelio needed to prove he could stand up to the boogeymen that held him as a pale remembrance of the old man who always seemed to share the same breath with him.

"This life is the only one I have Bella and I've made my peace with that. Nothing is gonna change for me by doing this that hasn't already been waiting to happen. My family that's left is all on the inside. Gavin has kids and a wife that he needs to stay safe for, so he shouldn't be poking a bear."

Smirking a bit, he turned to Kenzi and nodded. He'd been a kid on the streets of New York and seen how it treated those that didn't get a chance to fight back. Now that he knew her background he couldn't just turn away.

"Besides, this is for you not her. I'd be a real ass to  turn away a lady like you in need. I give you my word, miss Kenzi, that this Angelo won't bother you any more. Not if I can help it."

From the reactions of Bella and Aurelio, it was pretty clear to Kenzi that Paulson was no friend at all. This gave her a sense of relief. Her mind briefly wandered back to the young man from the train station - Joey. He looked to be her age, maybe a little older. Was he a part of what ever life Bella and Aurelio were talking about? And what was it, anyway? So many questions, but none that Kenzi wished to ask right now. 

When Aurelio turned his attention to Kenzi, she finally mustered up the courage to look him in the eye for a moment and offer a small smile. 

"Thank you. I...don't know what to say. I don't know why you ask are being so kind to me, but, I will find a way to return the kindness to you  Somehow."

Bella looked at Aurelio as he spoke to her and then, as he spoke to 'Miss Kenzi' ...

Oh... Shit.

Had she forgotten who the fuck she was talking to?!?  This wasn't some goomba, some average Wise Guy wanting to make his bones, this was the young pup - the son of William fucking Bowden.  The Golden Boy's heir was never going to turn his back on a pretty damsel in distress ... being the hero was in his blood and his response only proved it.

He's his father's son.  It's like William and I standing face to face for the first time all over again. 

"Okay."  Bella relented.

I'm sorry, William. 

"I can see you're set on this so... let's make sure you're set up for the job properly."  Bella watched as the two met eyes for the first time and in the pit of her stomach, she felt a lurching.  

I'm SO fucking sorry.  

Bella swallowed her unspoken fears and sat back down.

"Kenzi, for the time being, I'm going to put you up in a very nice hotel; the sort that Angelo will never look for you in.  You'll stay there until Aurelio can assure me that Angelo isn't coming for you.  After that, we'll get you set up somewhere on a more permanent basis."

She looked to Aurelio, "I'll assign two of my people to watch her at all times.  I'll have ever associate on the streets listening for mumblings of Angelo's arrival in Philly in case he leaves New York to track her here.  If we hear anything, I'll call you back."

Bella pulled out a notepad from her purse and began making a list of what she and Gavin took with them on a job like this - the sort of things seasoned hitmen thought to bring that a green gun might not.

"IF... Paulson has his fat fucking fingers in this, I don't want you doing any stupid heroics.  Part of being in a family is knowing you can call on us to have your back when the heat is too intense.  You're not ready for the likes of Paulson yet.  I need you to swear to me, PROMISE ME, that if you realize you're in over your head, you'll reach out to me and get some backup.  The rivers are full of dumb ass Wise Guys who thought they were ready for the big time.  Don't make me put a headstone by your mother's... you're supposed to bury me when the time comes, not the other way around."

She ripped off the paper and handed it to Aurelio.

"Everything on that list has a reason for being in your bolt bag and pray that you never have to know why on some of them - trust me.  But starting today and for the rest of your life, you keep a bag packed with those things within arms reach of you at all times.  If the $200,000 is an issue, I'll have it brought to you.  $200,000 is your new $0.  Understood?  You don't pass up a dime to Louis Mezzo if you have less than that in your possession.  If you're going to be a gun working for me, these details are non-negotiable."

Bella paused and when the boy looked up from the paper to meet her eyes she said, very seriously, "This isn't me being protective of a dear friend's son, these details are the difference between you being useful to me and you being dead.  I've lived longer in this thing of ours than any two other guys you can find on the streets... so this isn't hubris... my instructions are worth listening to."

Seeing he understood she nodded.

"Good.  I have a private plane at the airport.  Hanger twenty-two.  I'll have it fueled and waiting for you tonight at six pm.  That should give you time to pack and get your ass ready for the trip." 

She looked at him.  If she let her eyes unfocus ever so slightly, she was twenty again - sitting across from William. 

"If you can free the other girls, you do that.  If that's a mission for another trip, well... we'll plan for that.  Send you with more hands to help.  For now though...

She drew a breath and nodded to herself. It felt like she was deciding their fate, deciding which one she wanted more than the other by who she threw into harm's way. She wanted to be ill, tears pooled in her eyes as she turned from William and looked at Gavin. 

Her pulse quickened for a moment and then Bella blinked slowly trying to push the memory from her mind.

"Dipingi le strade con il sangue di questo cane.  Torna da me sano e salvo.  Inteso?"

She paused before adding.  "You have my number if you need it.  When the job is done, I'll see that you're compensated well enough to take a vacation worthy of one of Louis Mezzo's bosses while the heat dies down."

She offered her hand to Aurelio.

"Buona caccia."