if the mafia can learn to love

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Avi pressed her cheek against his chest, stumbling a little as she tried to walk straight in the awkward position. "Glad to know I'm special."

[assassinrue]

Nikolai gave her arm a squeeze then relinquished some of the pressure that kept her against his side.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Avi straightened and managed to walk normal again, but she still stayed close at his side. "How long have you lived here?" she wondered out loud.

[assassinrue]

"Can't say. Somewhere around ten years I'd say. We moved back and forth between here and Italy a lot."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Did you like Italy better?" Avi asked. Without giving him time to answer the question, she said, "I hear there are a lot of pretty girls there."

[assassinrue]

Nikolai shrugged. "I suppose I like them the same just in different ways." He entirely ignored the second part of her statement, he knew she was fishing but he wouldn't bite.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Would you move back there if you could?" Avi asked. Honestly, she'd kind of like to visit Italy.

[assassinrue]

"Maybe. I suppose I could make it southern Italy as long as I was careful. Great beaches too."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"Got enemies there?" Avi asked. That's what 'as long as I was careful' meant, right? Maybe going to Italy with him wasn't the best idea. Not that she was any safer here.

[assassinrue]

"Some of the mafia there." He said casually." He smiled sarcastically. "I've made a lot of enemies in my short life."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Avi raised her eyebrows at him. "Do you just have one of those personalities that pisses people off?"

[assassinrue]

Nikolai snorted. "No, but my father did. And gang feuds are genetic."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"That's unfortunate," Avi said. Then again, she knew that from experience now. What her father had done had put all of his children at risk.

[assassinrue]

"I suppose you get used to it after a lifetime."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"It's never going to go away, is it?" Avi asked. "This cloud hanging over my family."

[assassinrue]

Nikolai shrugged. "There are ways. Your problems are easier to fix than my family's though. My family history in all this mess goes so far back we're pretty sure are prehistoric ancestors were in gangs and mafias. It doesn't help that my father pissed just about everyone off, on a global scale."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Avi smiled faintly at the first part. "I can just imagine your mafia caveman ancestor."

[assassinrue]

Nikolai chuckled, "Silly idea huh?'

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"I don't know," Avi said. "I mean, I have no idea what my ancestors were doing thousands of years ago. They could have been following the orders of their alien overlords."

[assassinrue]

Nikolai burst out laughing. "Now that is a silly idea!" He grinned at her. "But I like it."