Finding Samuel: 365 Days (BxB)

Prologue: 5 Years Ago

Warning: May include sex, nudity, smoking, and language within this chapter.

The Island of Lampedusa, Mediterranean Sea

"In the first batch, we've got thirty refugees," a dark-haired man with a full beard said, "All young girls."

"Feel free to keep one," the other man beside him said as they spoke to an older gentleman in front of them; they appeared to be brothers or at least friends, in some sort.

"I'm afraid you've got the wrong address," Giovanni, the older gentleman, said, looking between the two men.

He noticed they both had full beards and match dark caramel eyes.

"But the merchandise is very excellent, a real bargain," the first man said. "Some have not even begun to bleed. Virgins, almost priceless," he added with a sly and sinful smirk.

"All you need to do is help us get them here. We can handle the rest," the second man said.

Giovanni released a large sigh before granting the two men his opinion, "My family has never been into this sort of business. I don't have to do anything. You're wasting my god-damned time."

"I apologize. I didn't mean to offend you. Why don't you think it over?" the first man had suggested. "You'll get a tremendous cut."

Giovanni looked at the man in a black suit behind him, who had his eyes fixed on his tie.

"Mario," he said as he stood from his chair, and Mario gave the two pedophilic men a nasty look.

Giovanni walked over to the younger man by a good handful of decades. The man was looking out of a pair of binoculars, catching the sight of an average-looking teenage boy who couldn't be older than 16. He had soft brown hair and natural blonde highlights that glimmered like the warm sun. The boy was laughing with friends and drinking from a water bottle after he took it from a red cooler.

"Assholes," Massimo said, lowering the binoculars to let them rest against his chest, as he spoke about the men who hoped they'd be doing business with his father.

"Assholes, perhaps. However, they are potential business partners," Giovanni spoke, "That man deserves our respect, no matter how much of an asshole he is."

Giovanni glanced at the binoculars and then looked up at his son.

"What were you looking at?" he questioned.

Massimo handed over the binoculars to his father, granting him the same sight he had just seen of a now laughing teenage boy.

"Oh, my son. You must be careful," he said, noticing the boy splashing his friend in the ocean and yelling about how cold it was.

There was no surprise in his father's mind that the boy had caught Massimo's eye.

"Beautiful people are heaven for the eyes and hell for the soul."

"-And purgatory for my wallet. He's not even of legal age," Massimo added before sighing, and his father turned towards him with the most simple of smiles.

"Listen to me. It's time for you to stop thinking of the fun and pleasures this life has to offer. You have to take on the responsibilities of this family, do you understand?" Giovanni asked. "One day. . . all of this will be yours. Everything."

A long pause broke between the two, a gunshot interrupting any future words that two men may have shared. A bullet had been fired, piercing through Giovanni's heart, passing to the closest neighbor that was his son; Massimo. Blood had been splattered onto Massimo's face and clothes, while any other surrounding noises were now inaudible to both men. Their bodies fell to the concrete roof, the Italian men that worked for Giovanni screaming as they witnessed what had happened, rushing to their aid.

The teenage boy had heard the sound of the gun going off up on the hill with the building above him. He grabbed his towel and ran as fast as he could against time, heading to save a stranger's life. His parents were both doctors back home in New York City and he was planning to go to NYU for medical school; it was second nature to him to help others.

When the teenage boy got to the roof, the pedophilic men and their crew had been dead and he had been held at gunpoint by Mario. He raised his hands with the towel in both of them.

"I can help. Gunshot wounds are like riding a bicycle for me," he said and sighed along with Mario as he lowered his weapon.

"Help him," Mario commanded and ran over to Massimo, who was still barely conscious, but Giovanni was already dead.