Legacy [bxb]

prologue

The city seemed to rumble with his arrival. It seemed stupid to describe it as such, but how else could explain the way the ground itself seemed to tremble as he walked on it? Or maybe Roman's passive excitement had caused him to mentally spout wax poetic nonsense which made no actual sense. The best thing was to blame it on the excitement.

The city from his memory was a little foggy. Granted he was merely a child when he left so the eyes which he saw the city was much different. Even presently nothing much had changed, or so he tried to convince himself.

During the flight Roman had barely looked or answered anyone from the moment he had boarded till the plane landed at O'Hare International. His only non-appointed companion was the air hostess who had constantly flitted into his first class cabin to offer him pillows and refreshments. Every time she appeared, he always plastered a slow smile to either accept or decline whatever she offered, even after he had begun to feel annoyance from her always abrupt presence.

"How does it feel to be back?" His companion Mickey asked him. When Roman saw him holding a small name card at the arrivals hall, he paused for a moment to recognize who exactly it was. Not until his mouth spread into an unmistakably wide smile and he said "Come on Ro, don't you remember your favourite little rabbit?"

Of course that was the giveaway.

He looked like a far cry from the chubby tired-eyed boy he'd left at 11 years old, Roman thought as he hugged his good friend tightly. Now the tired look in his eyes was now replaced by a mischievous glint and all his fat had melted into hard muscle. The messy hair that always covered his eyes had now been shaped into an expensive haircut which extensively showed of his well-developed facial features.

No doubt that he had changed tremendously over the years in many other aspects.

Roman sighed watching the large black SUV arrive "I don't know yet. It just feels warmer."

"Probably because you're used to all that cold back in England." Mickey teased opening the car door for him.

Roman shrugged "It wasn't very cold all the time."

"Whatever. All I know is that you're in for one hell of a crazy ride and I'm talking about all the full works. Gotta make up for the rebellious teenage years we never spent together somehow." Mickey said hopping into the back seat along with him.

"I look forward to it." Roman replied quietly. And he tried his very best to look as though he did.

When he received the call that Mickey was the one who would pick him up from the airport, he felt a surge of happiness at the discovery that his childhood friend who be the first familiar person he would lay his eyes on when he arrived in Chicago. He had hoped that the excitement would distract him until the main priorities were laid down in the open. But somehow even the promise of painting his birth city red with Mickey didn't doing shit to distract him from what was going on in his mind.

"Welcome back Mr Figorerri." The driver had said peering briefly at him through the front mirror.

"Thank you." He answered surprised. Had he recognized him already? But that really wouldn't be possible since he was certain this driver was new. Surely it really wasn't news to anyone who was close within the family to know exactly who he was and when he was coming. The information was of course very sensitive and wasn't open to many people, but this man must have had a certain degree of worth to know this.

Or maybe Mickey had overexcitedly said something on their way to pick him up. But Mickey was still no fool. He wouldn't say just anything out loud. Plus it wasn't fair to doubt his best friend that way.

"Your uncle has been really eager for you to come." Mickey said bringing him out of his current train of thought. If he heard what the driver said, he really didn't show it.

"I can certainly imagine so." Roman replied knowing exactly what to expect from his beloved uncle. "I'm sure there's a large dinner brewing which he doesn't want me to know about?"

"Isabella was making plans right when I left." Mickey said with boorish laughter to follow. His aunt was also caught from the very same cloth as her husband and would no doubt try to cleverly organize a celebration right under his nose.

"You think I can get out of it if I claim that I'm super tired and just want to rest?" He asked.

"And are you tired?"

"Not at all."

His heart was beating too fast for him to be tired at all.

Mickey shrugged "Knowing her, she'd probably postpone it till morning until you're all rested so you wouldn't have any excuse."

"Damn it."

Roman shook his head smiling. The city he grew up in had suddenly felt so foreign to him. He remembered certain places they passed, but it still felt to him quite strange to him as though he was seeing them all over again for the first time. But it didn't make him uneasy; he would simply find time to discover it all over again. After all, he was now here to stay.

"It's really great to have you back Roman." Mickey said with a genuine smile.

"How's everybody been?" He found himself asking.

What a complete shock it would cause to everyone, Roman Figorerri back from the dead.

His friend shrugged for the second time that day "They've all been waiting for you, to be completely honest. Your uncle's been taking on new stuff, expanding the territory the best way he can, but we can all see that it's really you he wants doing it all."

"I know that." Roman replied looking outside the window. As if he could ever forget. He could still remember the way his uncle had looked at him just before he boarded the plane to Stockholm, right after tragedy had struck. A look that clearly informed that everything would fall right on his shoulders when the time was right. No words even needed to be said.

Roman just knew.

"What about your dad?"

Mickey snorted at the question "He still remains an all knowing asshole if that's what you want to know. Hasn't changed much except that he's gotten angrier and more annoying now." Mickey's father was not a fun topic for him to discuss at all. Apart from the fact that he was always forcing his son into things which hardly interested him, he always made it a thing to constantly compare him to Roman even after the boy was out of sight. Mickey bore it the best way he could, but there was no way that an asshole like his father couldn't ever get under his skin sometimes.

"But hey since you're back in the flesh, he'll probably have more to rave about now." Mickey said resignedly.

"Don't worry; he'll have a lot to say when you and I set everything on fire. Just like when we were nine years old." Roman said with a smirk which caused Mickey to laugh out again.

"Hell yeah! I missed you bro!"

Yeah I totally wanted to write a super sexy criminal sort of love story for a while.....and this just happened.

Warnings for swearing, intense badassrey and too much smut than what's normal for my blood pressure levels.

Zoe (after dark).