Breaking Omertà

the blue door

gifs above are the face claims for Kylia and Matteo.

MATTEO

"That was years ago anyway! Why'd they gotta bring it up now?" Giovanni slaps his hands on the wooden table top.

"Bring it down, Gio. Yeah, it was years ago, but they'll do pretty much anything to take us down, like in the 70s. Now we gotta worry about WITSEC and the underground." I lean back in my chair, interlocking my fingers over my middle.

Gio sighs. "Well, who are we lookin' at this time?"

"Brian Hadley. He was the lead prosecutor on the case. It was a small one, too. Looks like he did it pro bono as a favor for an old friend of his," Antonio informs our group that sits around a large, circular table. Some of the lower downs are scattered around the room, but not many; this meeting is mostly for the Made Men. He slides a manila folder over to me, full of information.

"He's still alive, so they'll call him up to the stand at least, but they won't let him actually take on the case. And considering the case was a homicide, yeah, pretty small," I throw in, squinting my eyes a bit at some sketchy comments.

"Well, it looks like if he doesn't go on the stand, they'll only have revised circumstantial evidence. It passed back then, but in an appeal they need more than what they already had," Antonio comments.

I look at Gio, who's got a glint in his eye. "You know what to do."

We all start gathering our things when the door that leads outside makes a click. The door swings open slowly and the lower downs immediately take point. I just lean back in my chair with a raised eyebrow; this is gonna get interesting.

KYLIA

Curiosity killed the cat and to be honest, it'll probably kill me. That and the fact that I don't like being corralled into doing things. When a sign says "do not enter" or "no trespassing", I will most definitely enter or definitely trespass. Trying to keep me out with a locked door? You best bet I will find a way to get in. I don't like limits set by other people. Boundaries, I guess you could say, were not my forte.

This is why the mysterious, light blue door that I walked past everyday piqued my interest. I'd been walking home this way for about two months now and there is this little blue door with no address, no sign, no nothing. The building looks empty, but not abandoned. At first I thought it might be a service door, but there's nothing next door that needs service. It might have just been a bank owned property, but there was no definite answer. So I tried to open it. The blue door was locked.

There was only one thing to do - in my mind at least. I had to find a way in. I spent the next few weeks trying to figure out a way in without being arrested for vandalism. The building had no windows until the next shop and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't pick the lock. One night, that night being tonight, I decided it was time for drastic measures. It was time to call Alex.

"This is Alex, what do you need?" She questions, cordial as always.

"Hey Alex, it's Kylia-"

"Yes, I have caller ID."

I make a face. "Don't be a smartass. Anyway, remember that guy, what's his name, who does the thing with the doors?"

"The thing with the doors. So descriptive and helpful. But yeah, Noah. Why?"

"I need him to come help me make a key copy from scratch. It's probably illegal-"

"Stop. I don't want to know any more than necessary. I will not be pulled into your mess once again." Well then.

"Fine, whatever. Send me his info, yeah?" I say, giddy with excitement.

.....

"How's it going?" I chirp in a singsong voice.

Noah looks at me with a hard glare. "Great, you know, it's super easy to get a solid molding of a lock, at 1:30 in the morning, with absolutely zero help."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yeah. Doing n o t h i n g." He sighs and goes back to work.

I grumble. "Okay there, Mr. GrumpyPants."

After waiting another good forty-five minutes, Noah is done casting the mold. Now I just have to wait a few hours for him to make a plaster copy. I'm basically buzzing in excitement when he finished de-casting the mold.

"You know you'll only be able to use the key once, right? It won't last." He double checks.

"Yes, I just need to get my answer. It'll probably be an old storage unit or something, but I need to know. Now, gimme!" I'm so far gone as to make grabby hands.

Noah quickly snatches his arm back. "What do you say?"

"Thank you, you are the best and I want the key now," I jump and snag the key from his hand, "awesome, kay, see you, bye!" I begin the run home. Tomorrow is gonna be the day that my question was finally answered.

.....

And now I'm at that point where I realize, maybe all of this is a bad idea. I freeze as the door swings open and I come face to face with a group of men. More importantly, I come face to face with a group of men holding guns aimed towards my head and chest. I can feel the blood leave my face and my fingers start to tingle.

"Um, h-hi." I stutter while trying to take a slow step back, but my knees are so shaky all I manage to do is fall to the ground. How embarrassing. "I, uh, I didn't think there'd be anyone in here, but I-I-I'm sorry?"

A man stands up and, though I'm on the ground so everything is taller than me, I can tell he's taller than average. He has a strong jaw that is currently set in a stoic expression. The room is silent as he takes slow steps towards me. When he reaches me, he kneels down and throws an arm over his knee. He takes a deep breath and smirks. I close my eyes and swallow; my throat feels thick. When my eyes open, he's extending a hand out to me.

Sheepish, I clear my throat and gingerly take his hand. He pulls me up and I'm surprised by his strength. I stumble into his chest a bit and I hear him chuckle. I straighten up and hold my hands at ease. Contrary to before, I can feel my face on fire. With my head down, I take a glance around the room. The men have put their guns down and a few of them are trying to hold back laughter, I can tell.

Gesturing at the door, my voice is shaky, "I'll just... go. Um, it was-it was nice to, um, meet you? Okay, bye." I turn around and begin to take a step out when a hand reaches out and slams the door shut. I can feel warmth cover my back as he leans his head down towards my ear, his arm still propped on the door.

"Not so fast, piccola signorina."