Leo was having breakfast in the dinning room when Marco walked in, he was dressed in a black shirt and vest, his hair was styled all back showing his unique emerald eyes and his expressionless face. He looked handsome but the only thing out of place was the holster under his arm were a custom gold and red glock handgun was fitted. The gun was gifted to him by the boss after his first kill and he hadn't let it out of his sight since then.
Marco never really spoke much, and he even spoke less after joining the Fanucci family, and he really didn't care. He treated his words as gold and made little conversation with everybody around the house, besides the only reason he was here, was to find out how the young man before him was going to change his life. And to be honest, it hadn't been all that bad.
He had just answered the door and was going to report to his boss about the guests who wanted to see him. When he saw Leo eating he tried his best not to disturb him as he spoke.
"There are two people here to see you boss. Said they were cops investigating the shooting the other night. They said they also needed to talk to you", said Marco as he crossed the large hall to stand next to his boss waiting for a reply.
After he spoke, Leo didn't show any sign that he heard him or did he even have the interest to reply. He was having a typical Italian breakfast of coffee, with some bread and rolls, which were freshly baked this morning, and some butter and jam by the side, which he always tends to apply a little too much to his bread. He hadn't had such a meal in a while even before he was reincarnated into this world. It may have been a very simple meal for breakfast, but eating it brought back a sense of home and he was trying the savor the moment.
To be honest he had been expecting this visit right from the get go and they had appeared just like he thought they would too, right on his front door. Besides he would be surprised if they didn't come, after all, they most have left some kind of clue at the scene when they left. No one was perfect. And although no one could really point them out as the culprits due to the lack of any evidence, a little questioning and some deduction is all that's needed to suggest it was their doing.
He was taking small sips of his coffee and his face full of smiles when he decided to respond.
"Invite them in, I'll meet them her. And tell Luana to prepare two more cups for our guest, its still early and I don't think they've had breakfast yet."
"Okay", was the only answer he got before Marco left to do what he was told.
Speaking of Luana she was a young lady his uncle had hired to take care of things around the house and the kitchen. He had noticed that she was also Italian and when Leo asked why her, he answered that, 'she was a good girl from a good Italian family and although he had agreed to work with people who weren't like them. He would rather die than see an outsider running around his home, and even worst his kitchen'. Leo couldn't help but sigh at the response. And although he was the one that brought the idea of working with other races, he too wasn't going to let them into his home. He could be nice and invite them the dinner but he would definitely not let them cook his dinner.
It only took a little while for Luana to come in and set up two new cups at the other end of the table before Marco guided the guest in.
There were two men led by Marco as the stepped into the dinning room and while Leo was sizing them up, so were they. The first was middle aged, he had dark black hair with sign of gray popping up by the sides and sharp hawk like eyes which showed his years of experience.
The other was a blonde youth, probably a newbie. And from his expressions and his excitement one could tell he was fresh out of the academy and this was most likely his first assignment. The youth had a smile on his face and tried to act as polite and as professional as he could, while the experienced senior investigator had a blank expression that did not show what he was thinking.
Leo invited them to take their seats and join him for breakfast to which, they politely declined and went straight to the reason for their visit. They asked some questions, which he answered and denied all possibilities of being involved with the case.
When the questioning was over, they accepted his answers and informed him that, since there was no evidence pointing to anyone in particular they questions where just a formality. And everyone who posses any form of assets in the area or any form of connection to the place was questioned in order to try and discover the aim of the culprits. And since the investigation was going nowhere they would just report it as gang violence between two rival gangs in the area.
They said their goodbyes and Leo walked them to the door but before they could leave, he stuffed a couple notes in their hands as a show of appreciation for the hard work they were doing and for them putting and end to the matter. There was a flash of understanding in the eyes of the senior investigator before he stuffed the bills into his coat pocket and thanked Leo for his generosity, while the youth was the same but a little more excited about getting some cash to spend in the coming days. Being a cop in this city didn't really come with much privileges, so he was happy getting something for his hard work.
Leo just stood by and watched them live as he was lost in thought and when he came to, they were completely gone. He went back into the mansion to talk to his uncle. Due to the current situation there had to be a few changes in their current plan.
He met his uncle at the back garden tending to his home grown vegetables especially his tomatoes; they were the secret to his delicious spaghetti sauce. He would never use fruits or vegetables he didn't grow in his cooking, because he claimed it would never make they food taste as perfect as home grown fruits and vegetables did. For a man who was feared in the underground world as a bloody hitman, it was odd watching him put so much effort and dedication in preparing a good meal.
After noticing Leo's presence he stopped what he was doing, stood up, took of his garden gloves, patted the dirt off his clothes and went to meet him. He had a wide smile on his face as he approached, a sign that his garden was doing quite well. He hadn't even arrived when he began talking about his gardens progress.
"Hahaha, Leo I'm glad you came to see me. I wanted to inform you that the tomatoes are almost ready and I would soon be preparing my famous sauce and you can get to enjoy and appreciate my cooking skills since its been a while. And also....," his tone seemed to change, a sign of his annoyance as he said the next part, "I heard the ****ing cops came sniffing around. What did they want?"
The cops were one of the few things that could cause Benedetto to break his manners and curse. And to be honest you couldn't blamed him. If you were in the same situation as he was with the cops, right when he started his profession as a killer. You'd be inclined to act the same way. Leo didn't really mind. To him, it was fun watching the reactions of this uncle of his that he just met only a few days back. His uncle also didn't really like people pointing out his change in attitude so, Leo acted like he heard nothing and simply answered his question. Besides it saved him from the awkward situation pointing it out would cause.
"They were just asking about the other night there's nothing to worry about. I took care of everything, we're clean, spotless even. And they have nothing on us anyway. It was just some formalities on their part, no need to worry too much. But it did get me thinking though. I had expected their visit and all, but since it came earlier than planned for, word on the street might have also started spreading involving us in issue. And that would make the smart ones involved in or plans start watching our every move.
"It would be very difficult to move forward with the plan if we don't make some necessary changes. I was wondering if we had any means of directing or at least influencing the spread of the news, or maybe even a reliable information network of our own to monitor who knows and who doesn't?"
It didn't take Benedetto long to think before he replied, "Sorry Leo but the family hasn't had that much power not even when my brother was alive. We did have some influence in this area when our father was head but all of that ended when the Black Street Office was established. They control all information flow within Allabo, and they're the ones to meet if you wanna know anything that happened or probably might happen in this city and even the state[1]. They have various spots and branches everywhere some of them right here in the south. My advice is if you wanna deal in information you should talk to them and should also be prepared their information is pretty costly and its worth it because they're mostly accurate".
It was now Leo's turn to be lost in taught. It would seem he had to make major changes in the plan and might even have to change the plan completely. He didn't expect this and had grossly underated the level of development in this world field of information gathering and distribution. They may not have had the Internet that made communication easier, but they did have people with the ability to create their own means and channels for efficient and accurate information gathering and distribution. And from the looks of it the level of ability possessed by the Black Street Office could be achieved by a civilian it most have been an ex military officer from the Federation Logistics and Information department.
It seemed he really had to meet with the Ofice in order to find out how much they knew and he also needed to develop his own channels to counter them if he really wanted to achieve anything more than the average thug in this new world, and that was going to require a lot of work and funds you n his part. 'Well I guess things seemed a little to easy and it also shows the level of influence that that person has in order to keep the Fanucci family from being completely wiped out right from the beginning.
'Sigh, I guess I owe that person a huge favor, which one of this days he will come to collect. I now, I need to be more careful with my movements from now on as things may not be as they seem. First, let's visit the Office and see how things play out from there'
"Uncle Ben is there any of their branches or spots you can introduce me to, cause it seems I really need to meet them for things to move forward", said Leo after coming to a decision.
"Sure, we've dealt with them before there's a place we normally go to get our information. I'll get Antonio to take you there but like I said you have to be ready their prices aren't cheap"
"Thanks uncle Ben I really appreciate it", said Leo with a dispirited smile on his face.
........................
To Leo's surprise the car pulled up at the same bar he had come to a few days ago, where he met a powerhouse from another criminal organization and a misunderstanding led to both party's ending up on bad terms with each other.
The last time he was here he was curious as to why so many mobsters and even small time crocks were gathered here, and now he understood that most of them were here to trade for any information they might have come by. He also didn't know who owned the place last time, but now that he knew, he felt one of the mysteries bothering him had finally made sense. He wasn't popular in the underworld and not many people recognized him to start with, but someone was still able to point out his identity during the incident even though it was his first time here.
He had a guess that it was someone from the Office trying to create a scene so as to gather information based on either his or Boris ability. But he was more inclined to believe it was the latter persons ability and the one that tried to incite matters behind the scenes never expected the bodyguard for the current head of the Fanucci family to go down in a couple of hits making everything useless.
Leo got out of the car with Marco and Antonio leading the way as the stepped in the bar. It was just like last time only people would stare and when they saw who it was the would murmur and laugh. Antonio's face grew really dark and from the look on his face you would know he regret coming back here after the previous incident. They went straight to the bar without interacting with anyone and from the looks from the dude behind the counter, it seemed they had been expecting them. After taking care of the customer before him he approached the group with a welcoming smile on his face.
"Good day Mr. Leonardo Fanucci, can I take your order sir?", he said with the same smile.
Leo didn't think much about it and just went straight to business, "I'd like to have a meeting with your boss. I want to purchase some information from him."
The smile never left his face as he answered very professionally, "Thank you sir, for coming to us for your informational needs. And we can promise you, you won't be disappointed with our services. And I would like to inform you that sadly, the manager is not here at the moment, but, he has been expecting your visit for quite a while and had left specific instructions to direct you to meet with him on your arrival. If you wouldn't mind", he changed shifts with one of the other employees available and directed the group out the back door, "Right this way sirs."
They made their way out the back door where a car was waiting for them and Leo asked Antonio to stay with their car while he and Marco went on to meet the manager.
It was a five minutes drive from the bar to the location and the place they had arrived at was in shabby,shady and rundown district right around the corner of the bar, some blocks away.
They car stopped before a shelter for the homeless which they got out and proceeded to head inside. There were two lines of homeless people heading to receive their meal for the day. There were two people serving at the front of the line what looked like porridge and some bread. It was a skinny old man who looked so old you would think he just tip over and die the next minute but the energy and vigor reflected in his eyes showed that he wasn't done with living yet, the smile on his face a sign he was enjoying his work and the continuous thanks, gratitude and respect from the fellows here showed how much the loved and appreciated him.
When he saw them enter he only managed to spare them a casual glance and welcome smile before going back to what he was doing. Leo believed at first sight that he should be the manager he was here to meet.
The youth on the other hand was nothing special. He had a common face you could find on any white boy out there. It was just, the teasing smile on his lips and the look in his eyes made Leo a little uncomfortable. But he too, only spared them a casual glance before turning away.
They were guided to the side by the bartender and while Leo was patiently waiting for the old man who he believed to be the manager. A voice traveled across from the side, directed at them as the waiting.
"Amazing isn't it? He may look old but it would be wise not to underestimate him. The signs of age are just a side effect of over exerting his ability, its an ability in the mental domain you see and very useful for does of us in this line of work. But like all abilities out there, it too has its drawbacks. He loves working here most of the times and giving back to the people like him. I think, its mainly because he used to be one of them before the Office picked him up."
Leo and Marco turned to identify the speaker and they realized it was the youth who they had disregarded. They didn't even notice when the youth had left his spot and approached them. He still had his teasing smile as he looked all smug at their surprised faces before formally introducing himself.
"Pardon my manners Mr. Fanucci, for not welcoming you properly. I am Jeremiah Pugh, Head manager of all Black Street Office branches in the south. Its a pleasure to finally meet you."