Luis had just landed in Philadelphia Municipal Airport, jonesing for a cigarette, he quickly made his way through the terminal and stepped out the front doors.. He was in a bit of shock and awe, as he had been away from Philadelphia the past few weeks.. hiding from the FBI following the Patangeli Residence Raid. He grinned from cheek to cheek, as he took in the scenery and the smells, the sound of traffic honking.. he was finally home... 

Pulling the pack of smokes from his pocket and sticking one in his mouth, he caught sight of his bodyguard, Joe Delorenzi who was standing by Luis' black fleetwood cadillac reading a newspaper. Luis grinned and lit his cigarette before approaching and swatting the newspaper down..

"Hey what the fuck-" Joe said as is eyes widened realizing it was his Don standing before him

"LUIS! MY good friend! How was the ould country??" he said as he embraced Luis

"It's good to see you too, old friend.. " Luis said stepping back and taking a drag off his cigarette

"Please, get in..." Joe said as he turned and opened the back door for Luis

"She's just the way you left her...."

Luis slowly climbed into the back of his cadillac, feeling the leather on the seats brought back memories, some good.. some bad... He grinned and motioned for Joe to close the door. He opened the custom drawer he had installed under the driver seat and pulled out a bottle of Old Crow whiskey and a cup, quickly pouring himself a drink and taking a swig he glanced up at Joe who was now sitting in the driver's seat

"Take me home Joe... I'm eager to see my daughter.." he said motioning for him to drive

"You got it boss.." 

Joe said as he turned key and the engine came to life.. It purred, just as Luis remembered, so gracefully.. even as Joe pulled away from the curb she sounded extremely healthy. Luis grinned as he took another drag off his cigarette and rolled down the back window to blow the smoke out of. He reached down into that same drawer and pulled a glass ashtray from it and set it down on the pull down table next to him..

"How was business while I was away? I heard about the bloodshed that happened while I was away..." Luis said glancing at Joe

"Yea.. a few guys went down boss.. Franky being one of them.." Joe said with a sigh

"That Lipiton crew over there is cursed I tell you, not even a week after he takes over as Capo he gets shot... That crew is like a death sentence.."

"Knock it off Joe, your putting too much thought into it.." Luis said as he took another drag and flicked the ash in the ashtray

"We'll figure out a replacement, until then.. your going to take over collections..."

"Fuck me! Come on Luis..." Joe said glancing back ar him

"Anything but that.. I'll clean the fucking toilets for crying out loud... besides.. who's going to guard you?"

Luis began to drift off into thought, he started to replay the events of the day before, where he emptied that clip into the torso of that goddamn Ricky Vitro... the look in the man's eyes as he was being repeatedly shot over and over again somehow stuck in Luis' head, the gaze he gave Luis was nothing but a cold stare, was that all it was in the end.. Coldness?? Joe's loud voice snapped him out of it as he shook his head

"You alright boss? You went mute on me there for a minute.." Joe said jokingly

"I'm fine... fine... I've got a guy coming over from Sicily.. working on his papers as we speak, but he's a distant cousin of Vito and Giuseppe.." Luis said as he stuck the cigarette in the ashtray

"Another Rigazzo? They just keep crawling out of the woodworks like ants..." Joe said laughing as he turned onto Luis' dirt road to his mansion

"We're here boss" Joe said softly as he motioned for the guards to open the front gates

Luis smiled as the car pulled into his estate, the land was just as beautiful as he remembered it, it almost reminded him of the old country.. It was half the reason he bought it. His enormous house set atop the hill, with a small barn off in the distance. Guards were seen patrolling everywhere and just as Luis' car pulled up to the front next to his fountain, Valencia stepped out the front door, followed by Vito Rigazzo, her appointed bodyguard by Luis, and smiled at him. 

Joe quickly stepped out and made his way around to open the door for his boss. Luis stepped out and stretched, letting off a slight grin at Vale before casually strolling up his steps and hugging her..

"Vale, I'm so happy to see you..." he said as he stepped back and motioned for them all to go inside

"I hope you didn't miss me too much while I was gone..."

Luis pointed for her to sit down on the couch in the living room, as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed two cups and a bottle of whiskey from the bar and returned, sitting across from her and pouring the two a drink

"Did Vito give you any trouble while I was away...." he said pushing her cup across the table and leaning back in his seat awaiting a reply....

Vale was sitting at her desk going through a stack of papers, it was never ending. It felt like the stacks were on some sort of automatic refill thingy, it was insane. She didn't realize how much work it actually was being the second in charge of things. Not saying she wasn't capable of it, cause clearly she was. It was more so how much time it actually took out of her day.

Then on top of it Luis had run into a slight bit of trouble a couple weeks ago and had to leave the country for a bit. Which just piled more shit onto her plate. Then just to add a bit more onto it all, a bit of a skirmish broke out throughout the land. Conveniently a day before Luis was set to come home. Again nothing that herself and Cecelia couldn't handle, minus one little hiccup things went smoothly. 

Vale sat back into her chair and said a little prayer for Franky. The poor guy took an unfortunate bullet, a fatal bullet. She let out a big sigh.

"Such potential cut down in his prime, rest well Franky. I'm sure I'll be seeing you on the other side, some day."

She sat back up and scooted the chair closer to her desk, placing her elbows upon it.

"Ugh, I don't feel like doing any of this shit today..."

She pushed herself away from her desk and stood up, giving the grandfather clock standing in the corner of her office a look over. It didn't initially register what time it was, that was until she did a double take. It was 22 past the hour, Luis flight was supposed to get in 30 minutes prior. He had to be close to getting back here, that is unless he stopped somewhere along the way but that was highly unlikely.

Vale walked over to her window to give a look outside, not that it really showed anything. As her office was in the back side of the HQ, Luis specially put her back there. He said some kind of bs, like it was the safest room in the headquarter if a raid was ever to take place. She wasn't really listening to him at that time, she was more pissed about it to actually hear the words coming out of his mouth.

"The backyard... what a view..."

She shook her head then made her way to the office door, giving it a swing opened. Just outside sat Vito, reading the newspaper. He quickly folded up the paper and stood up.

He said nothing to her, she said nothing to him. He had been appointed as her personal security guard. Overall he was a nice guy but he gave her no space. Everywhere see went, he wasn't too far behind. Hell he even followed her to the restroom, didn't go inside of course but sat outside. It was awkward at times and she really didn't understand why she needed such protection.

That was until yesterday, as he shoved her out of the way of a bullet that had her name on it. It was a close call but the adrenaline after the attempt on her life was something she had never experienced before. Even all the drinking and experimental drugs she had taken had never given her that kind of rush. It was really something else, she couldn't wait to tell her father. 

She gave Vito a head nod in the direction she was headed, the front door, that's where she was headed. She knew he would be home soon, plus it was nice outside, a beautiful spring day in late April. She made her way outside and took up a seat on the bench just outside the headquarter doors, leaving enough room for Vito to sit.

Vale took in a deep breath, looked in his direction and smiled.

"So... yesterday was interesting, huh?"

Vito nodded "You gonna tell your father?"

She could tell Vito was a bit nervous, why she didn't know. It's not like he started the war and it's not like he much power over the situation at all. He did his job and he did it well.

"Uh, yeah! Why would I not tell him?" She gave him a puzzled look.

"You almost died!"

"Yeah, almost... but I didn't cause you did your job."

Before he was able to respond Luis car came pulling up, a smile beamed from ear to ear. Yes her and her father often butted heads but that was because how similar they were. It was nice to see him home, plus would take a bit of weight off her shoulders.

She wanted to give him a big embrace as he walked up to her but she kept it professional and followed him inside as he motioned to her. She followed him into the living room and took a seat on the couch like he requested, took one of the glasses from his hand and watched as he poured her a bit of a drink.

"Did Vito give you any trouble while I was away...." Luis inquired.

Vale smiled and took a sip from her glass.

"Nah, he did his job and I mean her really did his job." Vale began laughing softly.

"What's so funny?" Luis asked.

Vale paused and took another sip from her glass before responding.

"Well you see... I'm sure by now you've heard of the events that took place yesterday on Easter?" Luis nodded. "Well, needless to say I'm a bit lucky. You should probably be here today planning my funeral and you would be if not for Vito."

The room went quiet, it was rather quite eerie.

"Don't worry though, you don't have to and yes I'm fine."

Luis still said nothing but the man threw down the entire glass of whiskey and was pouring himself another one.

"Seriously, I'm ok... you can say something now..."

Luis was furious after hearing about his daughter being shot at, relieved.. but furious....

"God dammit VITO! I've told you one thousand times... you are NOT to let her off this property during war times...." Vito tried to but in but Luis continued on his rampage

"And you see what you make me fucking do?? I spilled the goddamn bottle... CLEAN IT UP"

Vito scurried into the other room and returned with a broom and dustpan and began cleaning up the broken glass, Luis continued pacing with the second glass of whiskey he poured until he finally stopped and chucked the second glass at him, almost hitting him in the head

"You're lucky I missed... you son of a bitch... those goddamn son of a bitches take advantage while I was away on business?" he glanced at Joe Delorenzi who just walked into the house

"I want them ALL dead, by the end of tonight Joe.. make it happen..."

Joe stopped and shook his head before slightly giggling at Luis...

"Boss, the war is already over... Everyone's dead...."

Luis look puzzled, the war was already over?? It had barely been two days.. calming himself down he returned to his seat and snapped his fingers at Vito

"Pour me a drink.. and when your done cleaning that up scram..." Vito nodded and quickly poured Luis another drink

"Did we take any casualties on our side other than Franky.. RIP..." Joe shook his head as he watched Vito clean

"Good... so.. I'm sorry you had to go through something like that... I should have been here..."

Luis said softly as he picked up his drink and swirled the contents before taking a large swig and setting it back down on the table

"I'll get you a new bodyguard.. someone who does the job right.." he said glaring at Vito

"Do you have someone in mind?"

"A new bodyguard?"

Vale gave him one of those looks, the look where you're basically saying what the fuck but with your face.

"Did you not listen to anything I said? If it wasn't for Vito I'd be dead."

She took a gulp from her glass then brought it back down to rest in her hand on her leg.

"You say that he was supposed to keep me inside during a war like that and keep me protected but is that really logical? They killed our Godmother Chairman, countless of South Philly personal and our very own Franky. You expect me to just sit inside, in some sort of panic room while people we work with drop. Are you crazy"

Vale let out a sigh, she didn't mean to call him crazy. From his point of view it had to be scary as hell, you're out of town and war breaks out. Leaving your daughter vulnerable. No matter how old she get, in his eye she will always be his little girl. She could tell he was still furious, he had such a tight grip around his glass that his knuckles were turning red.

"Ok, I'm sorry I called you crazy, that I didn't mean but really... Did you really expect me to stay idle and do nothing? You left me in charge of things while you were gone, I only did what you would have done if you were here. You should be proud, you should be happy that the guard you appointed did his job and saved my life and you really should loosen your grip on that glass before you shatter it in your hand. I really don't want to have to pull pieces of glass out of your hands today."

Vale placed her glass on the table in front of her then flipped her hands over showing Luis her palms. They were a slight tint of red still from yesterday, no matter how many times she had washed them she just wasn't able to get out the tint.

"I don't need more blood on my hands, hell I can't even get the blood from yesterday off my hands."

She wasn't even thinking about it at the time when she showed him her hands. Clearly indicating that she had to use her gun and apparently get super close to the action. You just don't get red tinted hands standing in the background. She watched as he looked at her hand then back into her eyes. "Shit... round two here we come..." The thought raced through her head. Not only did she get shot at but she also did some shooting, this was going to be one hell of a reaction.

Quickly she flipped her hands back over and picked up her glass, bringing it to her lips and downing the rest of the contents.

"I know what you're going to say and...." Before she could finish Luis chimed in.

This time Luis chucked the glass at Joe who ducked and ran for cover.. Vito and the dustpan beelined it for the kitchen and meanwhile Luis went into a manic rage, chucking various things across the living room, even that lamp he loved so much.. He started dry heaving before he had to sit down with the help of Valencia who was concerned.. Luis was starting to get old.. he wasn't that young kid who showed up in Philly so many years ago.. He calmed himself down, and beckoned for Joe to go retrieve him a glass of water... Vito knew the coast was clear and resumed cleaning the living room, only the mess was much larger now

"I'm sorry... I really need to.. calm down.." he muttered

"Your forever my daughter... and your mother... she would... god she would kill me quicker than shit if anything happened to you..."

Joe returned with a full glass of water and handed it to Luis

"I'm glad your okay.... you say Vito saved your life huh?" he glanced at Vito while taking a swig of water

"I take back what I said then....."

Luis stopped and drifted off into thought, his daughter had grown up so quick. She had proved to be a fine young lady, maybe not the male heir he wanted, but just as strong and fierce.. maybe even more intimidating than the rest of his crew. Vito was scared shitless of her, Joe knew not to question her.. and Sonny? He shit his pants when she came around. She would make a good boss one day he thought... Vale began snapping her fingers in front of him as he finally snapped out of it..

"Sorry.. been getting these weird day dreams lately... I don't know what's wrong with me.." Luis muttered as he took another swig of water

"So.. what was it like... " he said motioning for her to go on, she look quite confused

"You know.. getting your first kill...."

Vale smiled then began chuckling, it actually wasn't her first time ending someones life. Hell it wasn't even her second or third time. Though it was something that Luis knew nothing about. To him she was just good with numbers, good with the books. Stayed out of the limelight when it came to murder, you could say she had been pulling the wool over his eyes for some time now. It was one of those things, he just better off not knowing. That was until now, there was no need to hide it from him anymore.

"You know, I kind of thought you would have taken that a bit better then you did. I get it, you want me safe but if you wanted me that safe you would have shooed me away shortly after my arrival in Philly. You didn't, so deep down inside you had to have known a scare like this was bound to happen. Right?"

Luis gave her a shrug as to not answer that question, instead opting to take another drink from his glass. She waited for him to place his glass back down before continuing, Joe and Vito where already cleaning up a huge mess from the two shattered glasses. She didn't want them to have to clean up anymore.

"So, not sure how to put this so I will just come out with it. Yesterday wasn't the first time I've done the deed. Hell at this point I've almost lost track."

She really hadn't lost track, it was just her way of saying it wasn't her first rodeo. Luis' eyes widened, she could almost see the steam coming out of his ears as his face turned a flush red.

"Ok, enough of this furious rage stuff. I did more in Detroit then just run a club and I'm not your 12 year old little girl anymore. You can say I'm following right in your footsteps, whether that's a good thing or bad thing that is to be determined but it is what it is. You need to learn to embrace it."

Vale reached for her drink, taking another sip then placing the glass back down.

"As for yesterday though, the biggest adrenaline rush I have ever gotten was being this close to death." She held her fingers up, making a short distance between the two. "Like seriously, the best rush ever!"

Knowing what he knew, his blood did begin to boil slightly.. but she was right. If she was going to live this life.. murder was part of it, and it was seemingly unavoidable at times. He internally calmed himself down before letting out a deep sigh.. That it.. his daughter was no longer his 'little girl'... He stood up from his seat and walked over to the front window and gazed out, looking over the scenery before turning back to her and smiling..

"It's funny, because.. I always had a feeling.. you weren't just doing the numbers for me... All those late nights you would come home and fall asleep on the couch in my study.. you were out handling business..." he glared at Vito

"You possess a lot of the qualities that I carry, like keeping that one's mouth shut...." he glanced back to her

"I'm getting older by the day Vale, hell the year.. Who knows how many more summers' I will see... The life of a Mafia Boss can end tragically at any time..."

He walked back over to the couch and sat down, placing his hand on her knee

"That's why I couldn't turn you away when you showed up on my doorstep.. A Mafia Boss always needs an apparent heir to the seat..." he smiled

"With no son, and your Uncle Ron imprisoned.. your set to be that heir..." he said softly as he patted her on the knee

"While it's not traditional for a woman to be head of a family.. I have no doubt after I'm gone.. they will follow you just as they did me..." he grinned and pointed at Joe and Vito

"Well.. atleast those two knuckleheads will..."

Vale gave him a smile while shaking her head.

"As nice as the sediment is behind what you said, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yes you aren't what we call a young buck anymore but you're not as old as you are implying. I understand in this business that you never know when your last day will be. Hell, mine was almost yesterday."

She jokingly laughed.

"I mean don't get me wrong, if that time comes at some point. I would be more then happy to continue things in your honor but you need to stop thinking about death."

She knew she was destined for great things but now was not that time, there were many things she still needed to learn.

"Anyways... how was your trip?"

All Luis seemed to think an hear about was death in the streets lately, hell he killed a man just yesterday so he could return to America.. The look in his eyes, it was a look Luis seen many times before.. but it struck deep... Like he was watching himself die in a way... He shook his head and regained his composure before smiling back at Vale

"I know, I know.. but hey next year I'll be 46.. and well, thats getting pretty old..." he glanced at Joe and Vito who just finished cleaning the living room and gracefully left the room

"My trip.. ehh it was okay.. You should see the old country.. man that place is beautiful.." he said glancing back to her with a smile

"Your Uncle Tony says hello, you should see him.. he's head of his own family too back in Palermo.." 

Luis finished his drink and set it back down on the table before leaning back in his chair

"I think if I do make it out of this life, that's where I'm going to retire... Sicily...."

 Vale sat back in her seat, well the couch. Giving some thought about what her father just said. “You should see the old country.” It was a place she had yet to venture out to, then again the only family she knew over there was from her fathers side and well she only knew them from their names. Being separated from him for as long as she had, made her miss out on that side of the family. 

“Perhaps I should go see it...”

A sort of vacation would be nice, there was only one problem. If she left for a couple weeks that would leave Luis short handed. All her work would go on him. Not that he couldn’t do it but he couldn’t do it the way she did it. She had her certain ways, ways that weren’t his. 

“Eh, maybe sometime soon. When I have the time..”

She sat back up and picked her glass back off the table, fiddled with the glass. Making the ice cubes jingling off each other before bringing it up to her lips, taking the last sip of the contents. 

“When you do retire and move over there just make sure you buy a place with an extra room for myself, ok?”

Luis' smiled at Vale.. of course he would save her a room, his daughter would be welcome at his house.. as long as she stopped eating all the damn Ice Cream.... he leaned back forward and gracefully picked up his empty glass and held it out towards Joe and beckoned for him to get him another fresh glass of water.. he began thinking about how he used to call her when she was a little kid, maybe just 6 or 7 years old, to get him a beer from the fridge.. he chuckled.

"Yes.. you should... perhaps you don't remember going there as a child? God.. you were only 3 years old at the time of course you don't remember..." he sighed

"That was the year your great grandfather was gunned down.. we returned his body to Sicily.. his request..."

Joe returned with his boss' cup of water, right on que for him take a large gulp and set it down, quickly wiping his lips...

"God I miss him..." Luis let off a slight grin

"So... how was the house while I was away, did that dam ghost come back again while I was away...." he said sarcastically and chuckled

Vale sat there and listened to him talk about her great grandfather. He was a man that she never met, well if she did she didn't remember. Nothing she did purposely but when you're just a wee baby there isn't much you remember. She was sympathetic though, the look on her fathers face said it all. He wasn't usually the emotional type of guy but just the thought of her great grandfather made him sulk. After all these years and still, emotional about it. 

Now Vale never asked any questions about the man, yeah he was her great grandfather but really he wasn't anything other then that to her. She was curious, she knew he was gunned down but that was about it. Before she was able to put the sentence together, Luis quickly changed the subject.

"Ghost? What ghost?"

He must have been kidding, right? Vale narrowed her eye a tad, while thinking about it. There had always been some odd things that happened around the place. She always figured it was just cause of how old the place was.

She thought deeper into it. "Hmm... well I guess that would make sense..."

At this point she was talking to herself, well answering her own questions and inquiries. Within her own head that is. Luis cleared his throat to get her attention and her attention he did get.

"Huh? What?"

Luis grinned back at Vale.. she must have not noticed the lights flickering in the middle of the night.. she was usually pretty wasted.. Also, pots and pans sometimes would bang in the middle of the night, and the bathroom's shower upstairs would turn on randomly, without anyone else home... Luis had noticed within the first week the goddamn place was haunted.. that's why it was so cheap....

"Yes.. Ghost... or ghosts" he replied

"I found out from the real estate agent that a family used to live her in the early 1800's.. and they were murdered here..."

He found that he was lacking her attention, she seemed to drift off into another world.. possibly in disarray after hearing that there are ghosts living amongst them... but hey? They were harmless up until this point.. besides, there was plenty of other ways to die in this life other than by ghosts.. He cleared his throat and snapped his fingers at her gaining her attention again..

"Ah there you are! Hope my little ghost story didn't frighten you.." he said with a chuckle

"So.. you and Carla.. don't seem to be getting along too well... what do you have against her anyways? Her family is very well known here in South Philly... The DiMarco's are good friends with the Mezzo's..."

He lifted a glass of alcohol up off the coffee table and gracefully swirled it's contents before taking a swig and waiting for Vale's reply...

Vale shrugged then smiled.

"Oh the ghosts don't worry me one bit, it actually all makes sense now. All the odd things that happen around here, which is a lot let me tell you. Wonder if we can communicate with them somehow..."

She began thinking about it but knew nothing about the paranormal, maybe Luis did? She focused her attentions back towards him, he was giving her one of his what the fuck looks. So she decided to change the subject. 

"Anyways... Carla, ugh... I don't know what the hell you see in her. I mean is she just a warm body for you? Cause if that is the case I know a bunch of girls I could hook you up with that won't come with any drama. You know, the kind you do whatever you want with and then they leave. Think about it..."

Luis smiled, atleast he wasn't the only one who noticed the strange shit happening in the new house... something he kind of regretted about leaving his apartment in the heart of South Philly for the more...rural.. area. He leaned forward and placed the glass back on the table as it was now empty..

"Don't think that's possible.. some some witchcraft kinda shit.. like those voodoo priests practice in Africa.. your Uncle Tony talked about it when I was in Sicily once.. said he traveled there, and the people do some weird things..." he shook his head

"Anyways.. your gonna have to get used to Carla! I don't need a piece of meat and that is definitely not what she is to me..."

He motioned for Joe to bring another glass of whiskey and pour him and Vale another drink...

"Besides... I grew old of those damn prostitutes I appointed you in charge of down at our Red Light District.. you don't think me and Joe frequented them when we were younger?" he chuckled at her disgusted face

"We we're young then.. times were different.. anyways... what say you we open up a brothel? The woman seemed to not like my Idea of a Cabaret Club.. but perhaps with you in charge as Madam...." 

He picked up his glass again as Joe finished pouring the drinks... he swirled the contents again, clicking the ice cubes against the glass before taking a large swig and awaiting her reply...