Thiago

Marco Medici wants to kill Roxana. Supposedly.

Because she shot him on Stefano Messina's orders. Supposedly.

Whom she didn't sleep with willingly. Supposedly.

Arresting João Costa got his attention. That was calculated correctly. And right now he is stealing glances at us once in a while so at least something from what she was saying is true.

"See, baby. We are here with your ominous mobster and you are just fine."

"Because he is not retarded to shoot me here. You knew he was going to be here didn't you?" Her tone is strange. I can't interpret it properly. "You knew..."

"He surely isn't in the best of moods," says Bruno. "It's not super obvious but he looked over about six times already."

"You counted?"

"Is it not why I am here for? To observe and all that?"

"And to get Roxana out if something is indeed going to happen."

"How many of these people are criminals?" asks Roxana.

"Convicted or presumed?" asks Bruno back.

"Presumed, let's say."

"The lines are so blurred you cannot even say. Probably almost everyone here. Convicted, rather few."

"Thought so," she whispers to herself.

"Dad asked how many weeks," I tell Roxana. He did, just to step on my toes. We will never have a normal father-son relationship.

She frowns. "Oh, that type of weeks. And what did you tell him?"

"Five. Less wouldn't have added up with the timeline."

She shrugs. "Ok. It doesn't really matter."

"Roxana, you are not going to die. I am here."

"Sure..." she whispers incredulously. "I was thinking. Maybe getting Dani away is not such a bad idea; maybe in a witness protection program. Just hidden."

"Okay. If you want to. But don't you want him here with you?"

"I want him safe above all."

"Of course. We can discuss this tomorrow." A bit of alone time without the kid wouldn't be bad at all. Maybe we will make a baby after all.

"You promised." She squeezes my hand. "And I trust you."

"I did." I did. I wouldn't forsake the boy; I am not a monster. I would find a place for him, but without her the incentive is shrinking a lot. "Now calm down and stop drinking. Dad might notice." Though, if she is drunk she might be happier, more open to stuff... less nervous.

This event is so bizarre, how legit businessmen and criminals mingle and click glasses.

"You can hardly tell the difference, can you?" says Bruno contemplative.

"Bruno, what's up with you today?

"I am not sure myself. I think I have entered the era of moral dilemmas."

"What?" I frown at him. What's this bullshit. He is supposed to watch Roxana when I am occupied, not having a moral crisis.

"Well, did you ever find someone you are supposed to hate rather enticing?"

"No." I give him a death stare. If he is going to imply that again, I am going to punch him for real.

"Ah look, don Vitor is summoning you."

Father is waving me over again. Oh, joy.

"Keep an eye on her."

Bruno nods but still looks a bit absentminded in the direction of that dude. Seriously, Bruno?

My father is stomping his foot impatiently. When he summons you, you need to respond right away. That wasn't fun when I was a kid as it isn't now. But now I need favours and his money and influence so when he calls I need to be there.

"Thiago, what exactly were you thinking when you arrested João Costa?" The tone of his voice is calm, steady and a bit sarcastic.

"That it's a statement. Why?" I shoot back.

"Because Mauro Moreira just threatened several of my campaign sponsors into bailing out."

"So he sent the delinquent son out to bully me into submission by upsetting you. In a way it's even flattering. Too bad I don't care..."

"It were three million dollars in campaign money." He gives me a death glare.

"Then get new sponsors who aren't pussies."

He looks at me for a few seconds and then, out of the blue, he laughs. His laugh is deep and gutural, like I remember if from my childhood.

"You are such a brat but you are not wrong."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Yes, if that's the situation, caving to pressure is not it. But you know you cannot hold him for long. Since yesterday two star lawyers from Europe started working on the case too, on top of all the damn company of the Andrade."

I nod.

"Who are the other two lawyers? And do you know who sent them?"

"A British and a French guy and I don't. My men tried to find out but there is no paper trail. It looks like they came lured by publicity but I don't think that's it."

"Yeah, me neither." So he doesn't know. Good.

"However... Why did you arest João? The truth, please."

"I think he has links to a very obscure Italian businessman. I wanted to see if baiting him will work and it did."

There is an almost-smile on my father's face. I wish I wouldn't care about his approval but a tiny piece of me still does. It's engraved in my DNA.

"Aha... Stefano Messina just promised us further financing. And idea why?"

"Yes, his half brother is among the ones I have upset."

Now it's a real smile.

"Keep me informed."

"I will." I turn to leave before he has other questions. But he seemed pleased, which is good.

I bump into Bruno right when I enter again the main room.

"Oh, T, I was looking for you."

"Why?" The sound comes out pressed from between my teeth.

"Well, Stefano Messina came and asked Roxana to dance and she said yes and then they disappeared."

"Bruno, you had one fucking job."

"Yes, well it seemed on purpose because his men came and asked me questions and it took probably only a split second..."

"And it was Stefano, not the other asshole?"

"Yes."

"And where is he?"

"I don't know, I was busy looking for you and your girl..."

Shit. It strikes me. Maybe she was right. Maybe she was not overreacting. Maybe that guy is going to hurt her. Them...

Or maybe she is with Stefano Messina doing other things...

Almost maddened, I run to get my weapon and search for her.

We are opening all the doors on the hallways around the venue room.

Fuck. I messed up.

The fifth door I try is locked.

"Roxana, my love, are you there?"

"Yes."

I exhale.

"I was looking everywhere for you."

"The door is locked. I don't know what happened."

The tension falls slowly from my shoulders.

"Wait, I will get someone to unlock it."

A few minutes later, I am back with a service person who opens the door.

It's a small space, a storage room, were you can barely sit and she is alone. Good.

Roxana is standing in front of a windows with mascara stains on her face and a wrinkled dress. She had been crying. Her depressive episodes are not uncommon by now, but maybe a bit inconvenient. But she is alright and nobody tried to kill her.

I wrap my arms around her.

"Are you ok? What were you doing here?"

"Yeah. I am ok. I just needed a break from the crowd."

"Bruno said you left with Stefano Messina."

"Yes. That's his way of showing me he can get to me whenever he wants. He's a creep but this time it was only that. However, the encounter made me feel sad and weird..."

"Did he touch you?"

"In a sexual way? No. Stefano isn't attached to me in any way, he raped me only to prove a point. But it's still horrible to be in the same room as him."

"So you came here? I am sorry I brought you to this party. We can go if you like." We can go because he didn't take the bait.

"Yeah, I would welcome that."

We just leave without telling Dad or Bruno.

"See, nobody killed you."

"Yeah... I was indeed wrong about that..." She looks absentmindedly out the window.

"Dad will be a bit pissed that I left."

"Apologize. Tell him it was my fault. Nausea or so," she says. The answer is smart but she still feels and sounds very passive.

We ride the elevator up. She is looking at her shoes. I lift her chin an kiss her. She is again very low feedback.

"You really okay?"

"Yeah. I am just tired."

I wrap my arms around her and kiss her again deeper.

"Too tired?" I smirk and grab her ass.

"Please don't be upset, but not tonight." She moves my hand away.

"Why? You are alive, against all odds and all supposed drama. Shouldn't you be happy?"

She smiles. It's serene yet strange.

"I am. Very happy even. Only, tonight, okay?" Then she goes on her tiptoes and gives me a peck on the lips.

"Okay," I answer halfheartedly.

Then I leave her to get ready for bed and go on the terrace to call Bruno.

"What's up there?"

"Nothing unexpected. Your father is a bit displeased and the Costa are throwing apparently poisonous arrows towards Stefano Messina. Somebody must have told them they are competing."

"And him?"

"I don't know. I wanted to find him and maybe talk but he is gone."

"He left already?"

"Yeah."

"Shit."

"Yup, it looks like this whole show was for nothing. And João will most probably be released tomorrow so no reason for him to be here anymore. It's kind of gone, T."

"I fucking know..."

"Karma. Rise above it..."

I show my phone the middle finger and hang up.

This night I go to sleep annoyed and a bit frustrated. Roxana is already asleep in her brother's room so I am alone. It irks me. But I was right and that idiot was too frightened to do anything. He is not a danger as long as she is with me; he was never as dangerous as she thought. Now she knows and we can finally move the hell on.

When I wake up the next day she is already making breakfast in the kitchen. For a change she is smiling.

Dani is already awake too eating eggs.

"Hey Thiago, Roxi is great moods today. She said I can go play football again if I like and like hell I do. Her only condition is that you come too. So... Pretty please!"

She throws me some puppy eyes too and I definitely want to get laid tonight so I say "Sure. I need to take care of some things for the bar first. I can take you and after we can play. You can call the boys. Baby, what will you do today?"

"Schoolwork. Exams start in a few weeks. Maybe I am lucky and my degree is recognized here but until we are sure I am still studying."

"Okay."

My goodbye kiss is very long today as is her brother's monologue on the drive to the bar.

This kid can talk for hours.

"I am so grateful that you take care of Roxi and make her happy. You are such a great boyfriend. I even think sometimes she doesn't appreciate you enough." Oh, not bad, kid.

"Do you now?"

"Yes. Roxi is often rather grumpy and not super attentive to you. My boyfriend would be the center of my universe and I would do anything for him."

"As you should," I tell him. "Maybe you can tell her that." I wink.

Red spreads on his face and he gives me a very bright smile.

He is very eager to please and helps the girls at the bar a bit till I finish the business I have for Mom. She frowns upon my newly rekindled relationship with Dad and the fact that I am back in law enforcement but on weekends I still help out to appease her.

After that, I head out to the beach. The boys are already there, all except Davi. What is he doing these days?

Bruno gives me a short update about what happened last night after we left. Apparently nothing important.

Today I choose Dani in my team. I want him to be happy and tell Roxana. Henrique is the captain of the other team but he has most of the younger boys this time. He will likely lose. I like football as much as a regular Brazilian and I am competitive. It's good to blow out some steam and... Win.

After fifty minutes it's three to one for us. They managed to score once but they have no change for the missing two or three to win. And right now, I will score the forth.

Fuck. Post. Happens.

The goalkeeper kicks the ball far into the other side of the field. I relax a bit. The boys will need some minutes till they capture it back; I don't even bother to look in that direction.

A chore of "Wow. Caralho!/ Fuck!" sounds suddenly from behind. The ball flies out of the blue, unexpectedly fast past me and past the goalkeeper, touching slightly his ear and sinking into a goal.

"Puta que pariu!" says someone from behind me.

A guy dressed in suit pants and a black shirt with rolled up sleeves is standing in the middle of the field.

A few boys gathered around him. Of fucking couse it's not any guy.

"Senhor, você quer jogar no nosso time? Assim poderemos ter uma chance de vencer./ Mister do you want to play in our team? Like that we might have a chance ," says Zeca.

Dani gives him a death stare.

"Não. Muito obrigado. /No, thank you," he says and gives the boy a small smile. "Vim conversar com... Thiago./ I came to talk to... Thiago," he says after a small pause.

Then he walks a few steps towards me.

"Do you mind?" he says in English. His tone is not patronizing or commanding. He sounds... rather polite. But I didn't see this coming at all.

"Sure, follow me," I say. What else can I do?

Bruno is looking alarmed at me. I tell him shortly to continue playing.

This is very fucking strange. He came to me, for whatever reason.

My gaze swipes over his body. He doesn't look armed.

There are plenty of tourists at the bar at this hour of noon. We could go to my mother's office but talking in public seems wiser.

I gesture him to sit at the bar.

"Beer? Caipirinha?" I wave Julia over.

"Water." Strange. A mobster whose drink of choice is water.

I ask Julia to bring us a beer and water.

"So how can I help you... Marco?" I make the same pause he did before saying my name. He chose to use my first name so I do the same. I also want thim to know I know who he is.

"João Costa will be released today in the afternoon and there is nothing you can do about it."

The audacity of this moron.

"And you shouldn't do anything about it because it will do more harm than good and you know it. But you were very brave for making that arest."

What?

"Yes, you were. And I understand how difficult your position is."

"I don't think you understand shit, so what do you want?"

"I came to propose that for leaving João and his family alone, we can provide campaign money for your father, but..."

"Why would you do that?"

"Several reasons. Your father is controversial but despite all that, the better candidate right now. But, I think you know best of all people that he can be a lose canon. So I need your word that you will keep him in check."

I can't keep my eyes from blowing open.

"You know you offer drug money?"

"Only partially. Our business is diverse. But I don't think that's so much of a problem since the money from Adrian Chavez or Rodrigo Machado are just the same."

I am still very much in shock.

"You didn't know. Isn't it? And Stefano Messina... Or your uncle Tavinho Mendes de Souza."

I can't talk. Son of a bitch.

"But you are proposing me to swipe drug money for other drug money. That doesn't make much sense."

"Only partially, as mentioned. But it also means there will be no blood on the streets, no conflicts in the country in this regard and in the next five years we will swipe the businesses with legal ones. Bit by bit."

I scof and roll my eyes.

"Thiago, I imagine how it sounds to hear these from me but, as unlikely as it might seem, I admire that you want to make a change in the world. And also, Mauro is dangerous, unreasonably dangerous and unstable. He will draw blood if provoked. Please, do not."

"I can take care of myself."

"Maybe but if the opponent plays dirty? And it's... well not only about you."

This guy is strange. My girlfriend shot this guy and he is here proposing me a slighty dubios deal that makes still sense. Well business is business.

"Think about it."

"I will." I need to.

"Good." He gives me again a small but what seems like a genuine smile.

"And..." He takes out a tiny paper from his wallet. There is a long string of digits written on it.

"What's this?"

"One of Stefano Messina's offshore accounts. It will not suffice for you to hold him for more than a few days but it will be enough for him to take you seriously."

"Is he not your brother?"

"He is. But it doesn't matter in this regard. He will not take major damage but enough for him to respect you."

"Why do you do that?"

"Because I think he deserves it."

"And why would I do this?

There is something that twitches in his gaze the very second I say that.

"Why...?" he asks very slowly looking me in the eyes, as if I asked the most stupid question of all.

"Besides. My g... Fiance is very afraid you will hurt her. Yet another reason not to trust you."

"I imagine she is. But she shouldn't be. I don't want to and I won't. Roxana is a victim. She acted pressed by circumstances. I don't hurt civilians. You can reassure her. It's not from me that you need to keep her safe." The inflexion of his voice is slightly changed so is the look in his eyes. It seems more scrutinizing than before.

Then he turns abruptly and leaves he bar.

___________________________________________

Thoughts? What is your interpretation of what happened here? (I am not sure if it's understandable or not so shoot).