Headquarters...? He repeated it slowly in his mind.
Was Daniel hiding something? Or was he the one who hadn't noticed?
He looked up at her, but Oliva looked at him with pure innocence and no hidden intentions.
Nevertheless, he felt something vague creeping into his chest, a slight feeling of unease, the cause of which he did not quite understand.
"Oliva..." he said quietly, avoiding an interrogative tone,
"What do you mean by headquarters?"
"The place where we work, of course. Where we all meet. Daniel, and the rest. It's our official headquarters. You'll see for yourself."
All of us! For a moment, he felt like he was about to enter an uncomfortable social circle.
"Let's go!" said Oliva with a smile. He moved lightly and turned back from time to time to make sure he was following her.
He walked hesitantly, then gradually caught up with her... side by side, but his thoughts were far away.
Very far away.
Why didn't Daniel tell me anything about this?
When they arrived at the place she called "the headquarters," he felt like it was the biggest joke ever played on him.
It was the same café he had left just a few minutes ago.
"This? This is headquarters?" he said, pointing at it, his tone tinged with sarcasm.
She smiled mysteriously, as if she knew what he was thinking. "You'll see."
He hesitated momentarily, then silently cursed his curiosity and followed her inside.
He entered the cafe again and found it empty.
She closed the door and hung up a "Closed" sign, as if shutting out the outside world, then headed to the middle of the room, where the counter was, pushed open the small door, and turned to him.
"Come on in."
Maldo still hadn't grasped what was going on.
He followed her with slow steps, not out of confidence, but out of curiosity, or perhaps a desire to end what seemed like a ridiculous play.
Behind the counter, the space was cramped, containing a small shelf and some simple decorations, a tidy desk, and furniture that did not suggest anything special. But no one was there.
"Hey... you're kidding me, right?"
He said it in a tone that mixed annoyance with boredom, trying to hide the unjustified anxiety that was beginning to build inside him.
Oliva didn't answer him. She gave him a short smile, with just enough sarcasm to make him even more nervous.
She reached for a round glass piece on the shelf, inside which was a dried flower, and gently pulled it out, revealing a wall with a door behind it.
It was then that Maldo realized that this was not a simple matter.
Why do I feel like I shouldn't go in? I feel an unsettling energy emanating from inside...
And he realized, sadly despite everything, that this cafe wasn't just a place to sit, and that what awaited him behind the hidden door... would probably be even more ridiculous than he thought.
"No one should know about this door..."
Oliva said in a cautious tone, completely different from any tone he had ever heard from her before.
Then she continued on her way, and when he entered, he found Daniel and Luca...
He looked around quickly; it looked like a small stone cave but was clean and carefully arranged.
A table, some chairs, and a large board hanging on the wall, filled with investigations, plans, threads, and pictures.
He paused, his eyes wandering around the place, trying to take in what he was seeing.
What... what is this? He suddenly felt as if his head was about to fly off, as if the whole place was pressing down on him, confusing him and making him unable to think.
"Welcome, you rascal."
Daniel said sarcastically, interrupting Maldo's contemplation with a tone that combined mockery and satisfaction.
"Look at him!" Luca interjected, intrusive as usual, a slight laugh creeping into his words. "He looks like he just saw a ghost!"
Maldo took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure after being taken aback by the situation. His cold gaze quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
"If there's a ghost in front of me, it's you, you idiot."
He said it in a calm but sharp tone, then turned to Daniel, his eyes carrying a mixture of caution and questioning.
"Now, tell me... what is this place? And what do you intend to do with your usual tricks?"
"Idiot?" Luca grumbled, folding his arms in feigned anger. "I'm a spirit, not a ghost!"
But Maldo paid him no mind. His entire focus was on Daniel, waiting for a real answer that would explain all this mystery.
Daniel smiled slightly, the smile of someone who knows more than he says.
"Games? That's not a bad description."
He said it calmly as he walked toward the large painting on the wall. "Actually, bringing you here wasn't easy. I hesitated a lot, and I know how much you hate meetings... and how much you prefer isolation."
He paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and continued, pointing to the painting. "But in the end, I saw something else. I saw that it would be better for you to see for yourself what I've been working on all these years."
Years? The word alone made Maldo blink twice in mild surprise. He hadn't expected that behind Daniel's calm demeanor lay something that had taken "years."
He approached the painting hesitantly and stood in front of it, realizing that most of them belonged to different gangs, and some to people he didn't know at all.
"What... what are you working on? I don't understand yet."
Maldo said in a low voice, though he began to feel a sense of unease creeping into his chest.
"I'll make it short for you," Daniel replied calmly, which didn't match the weight of his words.
"I'm trying to destroy these gangs."
Destroy them? The word echoed in Maldo's mind like an empty echo. He heard it clearly, but the meaning did not yet register.
"All of these gangs," Daniel continued, "have been involved in dirty business over the past ten years... kidnapping, smuggling, murder, and child slavery as well. It all started after another leader took over the Black Rose Mafia."
"Wait!" Maldo said, blinking in confusion, trying to connect the dots in his head.
"I don't understand... What does Stella, the new leader of the Black Rose Mafia, have to do with the emergence of these gangs?"
Daniel sighed lightly before answering:
"Because the former boss was cracking down on these corrupt gangs. He was a protector... and a good man, which is rare in a world like this."
Maldo relaxed his eyebrows and thought.
A good mafia boss? The idea was strange... almost impossible, but he felt in a way that was difficult to explain that Daniel was not lying.
"Will you join us?" said Oliva, then turned to Luca to find out his position as well.
Luca sighed and said hesitantly:
"Okay... I'll do whatever Maldo wants."
Maldo remained silent, lost in thought, trying to process everything he had just heard.
Gangs... the mafia... and the former boss, the man described as great... it was all weighing heavily on his mind.
He was looking for a logical thread connecting all these events.
"I don't know anything yet..." he finally said, his voice low and focused, "I mean... I'm confused."
After a moment, he added: "I mean... Are all of them like the Black Beast gang?"
"'Yeah, exactly... and maybe worse,'" Daniel said quietly, leaning lightly on the table in front of him.
"Take your time thinking about it, you don't have to answer right now... I know it's a tough decision, especially for someone who's just starting to see the light."
He glanced around the place for a moment, then furrowed his brow and said,
"What is this strange place anyway?"
"This cafe belongs to my aunt," Oliva replied calmly.
"After she disappeared, I became responsible for it, and by chance I discovered this room... and then I realized she was involved in the world of crime."
Ah... this is too much for me, I don't understand anything anymore.
This thought crossed Maldo's mind as he ran his hand over his face, trying to organize his thoughts.
Then he turned toward the door with heavy steps, as if looking for a way out of all this fog.
Before he left, Daniel said to him in a serious tone:
"Maldo... When I get home, there's something I want to tell you."
Really? Is there more?
Maldo sighed silently, nodded, and then left.
He had barely taken a few steps when Luca quickly followed him, saying with quiet determination:
"This time... I'm going with my friend."
Maldo stepped out onto the street, and the cold air touched his face, reminding him that his coat was still at Oliva's.
He thought for a moment about going back, but quickly dismissed the idea. He didn't want to go back.
He continued walking silently, the snow beginning to fall slowly, melting on his shoulders and sticking to his hair.
Something didn't seem right... Daniel didn't usually speak with such seriousness.
A thoughtful expression crossed his face as his eyes followed the road ahead.
He turned around and saw Luca walking two steps behind him, silently trying to keep up with his pace.
Luca gave him a fleeting smile, half sarcastic and half concerned.
Then Maldo said without turning around, his voice carrying a hint of distraction:
"Luca..." He paused for a moment, then added in a tone tinged with boredom, "Come closer, you fool... I want to talk to you."
"Okay, of course," said Luca with a light laugh, then ran to catch up with him and added, "And you're a fool too, by the way."
The two walked side by side, their footsteps in harmony with the sound of snow crunching underfoot.
Maldo remained silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and speaking. "I don't know yet... what I should do, or what I should choose."
Luca nodded quietly, his voice more sober this time:
"Hmm... I got it. But take your time thinking about it, don't rush.
I'll support you... Whatever you decide."
A wry smile crept onto Maldo's face, the kind of smile that only appeared when he was with Luca.
He patted him lightly on the back and said jokingly:
"Of course, because you're the best insect I've ever seen in my life."
Luca gasped in shock, "Insect?! Will you stop calling me that?"
"No," he replied simply, without even looking at him.
They continued talking on the way, their words scattered between muffled laughter and the sound of the wind playing with the snow around them,
until they finally arrived at Daniel's house.
"Ah, finally some warmth..." said Luca, hugging himself and trying to get rid of the cold.
Maldo smiled with a slight sneer "This is the first time I've seen a spirit feel cold."
Maldo's smile gradually faded when he looked up and noticed Daniel standing quietly at the apartment door, leaning against the wooden frame as if he had been waiting for a long time.
His eyes were half-closed, and his voice was low as he said wearily,
"I've been waiting for you guys." Then he gestured with his hand, saying, "Come on, follow me."
Maldo and Luca exchanged a glance before moving behind him without hesitation.
Daniel led them through the narrow hallway to the very room that Maldo had warned them yesterday not to touch or approach.
He stopped in front of the door and turned his head toward them.
"Now I'm going to open this door... and when you walk through it, many things will change."
There was a hint of sadness in his voice, as if the words were weighed down by something only he knew.
Let's see what he's hiding from us this time... Maldo thought silently, then nodded.
The door opened slowly, and a faint light spilled out.
The room was silent, filled with the scent of old dust, until his eyes fell on the bed.
There, amid the machines and breathing tubes, lay a motionless body.
He froze in place, then took a step unconsciously, as if something was pulling him toward it.
When he saw its features clearly, he felt a vague tightness pressing harshly on his chest.
What...? Who is this?
He quickly turned to Daniel, searching his features for an explanation, but his face was grim, serious in a way he had never seen before.
"Daniel..." His voice came out broken, "Who the hell is this?"
There was a brief silence, broken only by the steady hum of the machines.
Then Daniel said quietly, with a hint of sadness. "Ricardo De Luca."
He paused for a moment, seemingly unable to speak, then added.
"He's your father."