XL *NOT EDITED*

Vincenzo

"So where are we going?" She asks looking to me with a curious look in her eye's, "It's a surprise leonessa" I grin causing her to frown "I hate surprises" She mumbles under her breath as she looks back at the elevator door "I know, but get used to it leonessa". The elevator door dings open and I hear her say "Thank god" under her breath as we exit, I take her hand in mine and lead her across the bottom floor of the hotel that's packed with people going to and from events around the city, "So, lucky for you and your feet" I begin looking down to her high heels "Our restaurant isn't far away".

She looks up at me confused before looking in front of her again, "Is it a restaurant in the hotel?" She guesses with a smirk on her face, "Yes it is, because it's the best restaurant in Las Vegas" I reply as she shakes her head. Her smirk slowly becoming a proper smile, God I love her smile. "Let me guess again, because you own it?" She hums knowing she's correct, she comes to a sudden stop and looks up causing me to look where she's looking. "It's not that hard to figure out" She replie's as she points to the sign before looking to meonce more "You know... With your last name plastered in front fo the place".

Before I can reply to her a waiter comes to greet us out the front, "Mr Moretti, and your.... Friend?" He asks looking between us hesititantly, "My wife" I correct him, fuck that felt weird to say. The colour of his face drains when I say wife, none of my staff would have expected this, they all know how I used to live I wasn't hiding it. "Well, it's lovely to meet your Mrs Moretti and welcome" He continues looking to Karma "Please just call me Karma, I hate formalities".

He nods his head and guides us to a secluded table at the back of the restaurant out of everyone's view, "Formalities?" I ask looking down to her, "Captain holt on Brooklyn 99 says it a lot so I know it's got to be smart" She whispers in reply and I can't help but smile at her, I pull out her seat for her and push it back in before sitting down across the table from her, I feel so weird and uncomfortable I have no idea what I'm doing i just hope it's enough to make her happy. "Can I get you two anything to drink?" The waiter asks looking between the two of us but I can't stop staring at her and she can't stop staring at me "The usual for me" I reply not breaking eye contact, "Tequila sunrise please".

"Tequila? You planning on not remembering the night?" I ask resting my elbows on the table in front of me, a small smile plays on her lips as she shifts in her seat "if I make a fool out of myself at least I can blame the tequila, and if it's an awful first date at least I'll be hammered" She jokes just as the waiter comes back with our drinks, he places the glass of whiskey in front of me and the tequila sunrise in front of her before taking out a notepad and pen, "Have you decided what you would like to eat... Karma?" He asks slowly looking in her direction while also trying to avoid all eye contact "I'll have whatever steak you recommend, medium please".

The waiter leaves with her order causing Karma to look at me confused again. "Why didn't you order?" She questions as she begins to look around the room, "They know what I get when I come here, now let's talk about you" I say picking my glass to take a drink, we sit and talk amongst ourselves for a short amount of time until our food is brought out, "So what's in Italy that Freddie is looking at?" I ask watching as she digs into her steak, I start eating mine as she begins explaining what they are doing.

"I want to buy St. Marys, rebuild it and open it as a safe haven for people with mental health" She admits as she pokes around her plate with her fork, "And why would that have upset me?" I ask looking her up and down "Because we need to make a pit stop in Italy after new York and I have been told what you're like when planning trips and making schedules". "I'm not that bad" I try to explain but she laughs at me instead, "Tell that to Iggy who said he would rather walk to the destinations than fly and travel with you" She scoffs. I lean back and look at her before shrugging my shoulder's "I'm surprised he left out the fact that you have free choice of half of our destination stops and activities huh".

"Oh he told me, but he said not to say anything because it was a secret or something along those lines. But it still doesnt change the fact that youre a control freak" She smiles, "Yeah that sounds about right, and I'm not a control freak I just like being in charge" I reply with a wink which makes her blush. "Have you said goodbye to everyone properly? Were leaving 2 pm tomorrow". She nods her head "I'm seeing Emily tomorrow for brunch before we go, I said goodbye to Ryan earlier this morning" she explains, I lean back in my seat again smirking at her, "What?" She asks going to wipe her face. "So everyone's usless huh? I guess he didn't tell you?" I ask raising an eyebrow at her, "Ask what?" She questions slightly concerned, "I offered him a job and he took it".

She stares at me for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter, "And why on God's green earth would a police captain take a job from a criminal?". "Well, to put a long story short it's better pay and he's unhappy where he's currently at" I shrug before leaning forward and cutting into my steak, "You can ask him why tomorrow anyways since he's coming with us, but I do have one small question I would like the answer to". She stares at me for a few seconds while chewing her food "Go on" She replies before taking another bite, "You never told me you are a pickpocket" I grin watching her face screw up in disgust, "I'm not a fucking pickpocket" She replies staring at me.

"But you've done jobs for stealing haven't you?" I ask taking a sip of my drink, she leans forward slowly resting her elbows on the table "It's not pickpocketing, it's called Grand Larceny" She smirks while flicking her hair over her shoulder, "And I'm good at what I do" She shrugs before sitting back and returning to eat her food. "Oh really? Well, how would you have stolen something from me then?". "You willingly let me into your apartment after knowing me for less than 2 hours, and then your fell asleep leaving me more than enough opportunity to take what I would have wanted. Your guards are well spread but there are at least two blind spots I could have snuck through, after that, I would have jimmied the lock on your office and collected whatever information need be, and for the boys? I would have just seduced them the same way I did to you, well expect me brother but that also could have been another entry point for me, just an innocent sister visiting her big brother".

I stare at her and watch her smirk turn into a shit-eating grin, she knows she has me fucked on this one "Alright credit where credits due leonessa, I'll let you win this one, but you have to tell me the most valuable thing you've taken" I reply "Easy, the pink diamond. Valued at $71. 2 million that little baby made my client a very very happy man". We clink glasses and continue eating our dinner, I've found out that clowns and spiders are the things she fears most and music and sea turtles are the things she loves the most. She's still scared of the dark and the only time she's been able to sleep in the dark has been in my bed, if I had of known I would have left a light on for her.

"I also noticed a small tattoo on your ribcage in the shower, what's it for?" I ask but it must catch her by surprise as she chokes on her drink when I say it. "WAITER!!" She calls out to the closest one passing by, they come over and she orders a round of shots and another drink as he cleans up our table, "What are you doing?" I question after the waiter has walked away.

"Well if we're going to start talking about this off the bat like that were going to be mortal while doing so"She mumbles unable to look me in the eyes, the waiter puts the plate of shots down next to us and leaves as Karma begins throwing them back like they're water. "In order to know the tattoo story you need to know the St. Mary's story" She sighs finally looking me in the eyes, her eyes are glassed over and I know she's fighting back tears, now that I know it involves that evil place I understand the reason for the shots. "We can talk about this another day" I reply seeing just how much of a toll it takes on her thinking about it, but she shakes her head "I'm already 4 shots deep Vin, there's no going back now, and I guess you should know".

I nod and take the other 4 shots that are sitting on the plate before ordering another round for us, were going to need it apparently. "Well you know the guards at St. Mary's?" She begins as she looks towards the incoming waiters, they swiftly place drinks in front of us before leaving quickly. "You know how after treatment we were unconscious most of the time?" She mumbles again and my stomach begins turning because I already know where this is going. "They- the guards-" She tries to speak but I can hear the pain in her voice and it feels like my hearts being ripped out of my chest and repeatedly stomped on in front of me, "Did they?" I ask and all she can do is nod in return.

After a few seconds she begins to explain more, "They told me if I told anyone or if I tried to stop it they were going to do it to someone I loved, the only person in that whole placed I loved was your Mom even if it was for a short time, I didn't want them touching her so I let them do it, she didn't deserve a single thing they did to her in there" She pauses, "I found out later that they were doing it to her anyway so I started fighting, I wouldnt swallow the medication they gave us after treatments because I didn't want to be vulnrable to them anymore, I had to try and defend myself even if I was strapped down to a bed" She sobs as her voice cracks, I can't fully take in everything she's saying to me but I'm ready to kill, why did my mother not say anything about this to us? Does my father know?

"It just made it worse" She croaks and I can't listen to it anymore so I get out of my seat and walk to her standing her up and pulling her into my chest, I just need to hold her. Her small frame shakes as she tries hard to keep the tears in but ultimately fails. My brain begins working overtime putting everything together, the guards, the assaults, the tattoo "And it resulted in?" I ask looking down to her "A baby" She whispers in reply trying to avoid eye contact with me, my mind begins to race even more, wheres the kid now? "But they killed it, in front of me, my baby".

this time my blood runs cold and I can't be here we need to go back to the penthouse now, I pick Karma up bridal style and carry her to the service elevators ignoring the looks we're getting from guests and customers, she cries into my chest clutching onto my shirt and I'm trying my hardest to keep strong for her but I can feel the urge to hurt peaking through. The elevator doors open and I walk towards the front doors kicking them open causing the guards to jump, I walk through the penthouse until I reach the kitchen were Iggy's stuffing his face, "Well that was quick" He laughs until he looks in our direction, he looks at Karma to me and back to Karma before throwing his hand's up in the air "Well what did you go and do now Ace?!".

"Office, now" I grunt as I continue my way down the hall, I kick open the door and sit Karma down on my large office chair. Seconds later a stampede of footsteps approach the room and sure enough all fo my men are standing in front of me. I take a deep breath and lean my head back before speaking "Lukas, I need every single fucking detail about that filthy german not one stone left unturned, his family, his children, his grandchildren. I want every single piece of fucking information on the scum, Iggy and Gio you two are to start sending threats their way, decapitated horseheads, pig hearts, human fingers, I don't give a fuck! I want the WHOLE family receiving them EVERY FUCKING DAY UNTIL I FIND THEM". All three nod while looking amongst themselves, "WELL WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?!" I yell causing them to run off.

"Stefano lock the door" I sigh watching him as he slowly walks to the door and then back to the table, "We're putting everything on the table, Karma he needs to know what you've gone through and Stefano you need to see how fucking strong she is and how much she needs a fucking big brother".

I lean against the desk and pour myself a drink as Stefano sits down opposite Karma, "I've heard what you do for a job" He begins looking between her and I, "Don't fucking look at me, look at your baby sister" I hiss pointing in her direction, "Why?" He asks, she looks up from her lap and stares at him before laughing, "Why? Why do I kill people? because it's the only way I feel safe in this shitty fucking world, because it's one of the only times I fucking feel something other than constant fucking numbness, because I enjoy it, I enjoy watching people suffer like I did, I enjoy hurting people like people have done to me, because I didn't have a sibling to talk to and be cared for, because Nonno and Nonna lived in italy and I had no one else to turn to because my big brother did'nt fucking exist, because I'm fucking good at it, because it's how I fucking survive in thie hell hole called life, because i finally did something with my life other than injecting drugs and overdosing".

she begins only getting angrier and angrier, "Because when I needed my brother and he wasn't there, my clients were. Because when I wanted to spend quality time with my big brother and he wasn't there, my grandparents were teaching me how to become the person you see today. Because when I begged and begged and begged for you to be a big brother and you would promise me lie after lie after lie, other people were there for me encouraging to start my own life without you. But I didn't want to give up hope that one day my brother would actually want to spend time with me, that he would love me like all those other brothers do, that I would have at least one family member with me but it was bullshit. So I put on my big girl pants and went on my own path, I found out just how much I like seeing the life drain from peoples eyes and decided to make a career out of it. To you I'm just the annoying little sister that needs help getting out of jail but if you had of just taken that time to spend time with me and to get to know my you might have realised I just needed a brother to guide me through life, to keep the boys away and to protect me if something happened but you didn't, you never did. It's almost like you taking me from St. Mary's was a burden to you, Fuck it, it's like I'm a burden to you".

"If you had of taken 1 hour out of your life and came to lunch or dinner or drinks when I asked instead of standing me up over and over again maybe you would actually know something about me, maybe if you had of answered my texts and calls instead of ignoring me I wouldn't be so fucking fucked up, maybe if you had of given me some type of stability in my life instead of letting me live alone by the age of 16 I wouldn't feel the need to find validation from other men. You were the main role model in my life, I didn't have a dad, a mom, aunts, uncles or cousins. I had the old hags at St. Mary's and the child molesters that were supposed to keep us 'safe'".

"You sit there and wonder why I'm on drugs, or why I'm having a mental breakdown every second day or why I like older men or being in control of every single thing that happens in my life and it's because I have to have control because if I don't I will kill myself, end of story Stefano I will fucking slit my throat in front of you right now. Do you understand how much shit someone has to go through to actually want to kill themselves? Do you understand the pain? Have you ever just wanted to hurt yourself just to make sure you can still feel something? Have you ever felt total numbness for months and months and months with the only relief when you hurt yourself or others? You wonder why I keep secrets, it's because you were keeping them first".

"Karma, I'm sorry I didn't think it would have affected you this badly, I thought you wanted to be on your own, I thought you wanted to be responsible and then life just got in the way and I know its just excuses but i just didnt stop to think about how it would make you feel" Stefano croaks with tears falling down his face, this is the first time I've seen him cry in my life.

"That's just it Steffy, you didn't think about anyone but yourself".