mob

Bree turned to him and gave him an uneasy nod. She had no idea if they were gonna make things better or worse, but she had to know for herself what Francesca had gone through, where she lived and why she made the decisions she had. If she could find out more about the ill-fated romance between Francesca and Adriano, maybe she and Alessandro could avoid a similar, miserable ending.

Will, was not as taken with the photo of the new baby as the grown ups around him. __t look like Mr. Potato Head._ ____ sure your baby sister will appreciate that,_ Alessandro said with a wry grin. __ girl? It__ a girl?_ Will asked with a grimace. __hat__ right,_ Bree announced as Vanessa and Brian congratulated them. __ can play wif Gianni but what we gonna do wif a girl?_ he asked, handing the picture back to them. __ope, send it backand get another boy dis time.

Bree grit her teeth and lunged for him but Brian held her back and Will spoke up instead. __ou go away!_ Will cried back angrily. __ know you did sumting dat made my mommy mad at my daddy. Is you fault!_ __ suggest you put a muzzle on your brat and get back in the living room,_ Bernardo ordered. __areful, Father. This is none of your concern,_ Alessandro said. __re you kidding me?_ Bree asked. __f course this is his concern because he__ the only one you give a damn about. You__l do anything for him. Absolutely anything even if it means betraying me or Will or God forbid Gianni._ __hat is not true. I would never__ __t is true!_ Bree yelled. __verything you__e done has proven that._ __ook, every marriage has problems and that is no reason to turn back on the vows you made to each other,_ Bernardo pointed out. __ou made a promise to honor the terms of the O'Reiley/Dardano vendetta. Be careful before you renege on those vows, Mrs. Dardano._ __ou and your stupid vendetta!_ Bree hissed. __egun by a man who couldn__ handle the fact that he couldn__ have what he wanted! God it must be genetic. Well, I guess I shouldn__ blame you, Alessandro. Knowing Bernardo and Adriano, at least you come by it honestly.

Bree blinked her tears back and shook her head. __ow. Then I guess you really are your father__ son, huh?_ __ou have no idea,_ Alessandro snapped before leaving. Part of her wanted to run after him but a stronger part of her knew he wouldn__ listen to anything she had to say while the red haze was still burning inside of him. He wanted a fight. She__ give him one

Hello, darling,_ Alessandro smiled at her. Oh, that smile. Bree wanted to close her eyes, press her hands against her eyes and keep them shut forever so she wouldn__ see that smile. She must have had the question on her face, the knowledge on her face because as she looked at him now, something flickered in his eyes. Guilt. Oh God. __ommy, look. I make good bouncies. See?_ Will said, dribbling the ball. __ gonna be a basset ball player when I gwoed up._ The little boy__ voice sounded far away as Bree narrowed in on Alessandro and the look in his eyes. __rian. I want you and Vanessa to take Will and Gianni out for a little while._ __h but we__e having a good time out here, aren__ we Gianni?_ Alessandro asked, tickling Gianni who squealed and curled inward. __ow,_ Bree said, her voice tight. Will stopped bouncing the ball and held it against his chest looking at both of them, picking up on the angry tension that suddenly covered them all. __h oh. I tink mommy__ mad._ ____ not leaving you alone in your condition, Bree. Alessandro, we just came from the hospital. Colin__ awake,_ Brian informed him, his voice tight with anger. __ou spoke to Colin?_ Alessandro asked, meeting Bree__ eyes. __ did. And Carrie._ He looks like a cornered animal. And what do Dardanos do when they__e cornered? They lie. They cheat. Oh God. __ine, then can you just take the boys upstairs?_ Bree said, speaking to Brian, but not moving her gaze from her husband. __ome on, guys. Let__ go play upstairs for a while,_ Vanessa said walking past Bree and taking Gianni from Alessandro__ lap.

The pain of it was crippling him. He couldn__ breathe. Be a man! Be a Dardano. Alessandro felt the protective wall shoot up around his heart in one quick instant. Dardanos weren__ weak and stupid like he had been. Dardanos didn__ let their emotions blind them. Love was for fools. Love made men stupid. But oh, she would never make him stupid again. Oh, how Alessandro would make his darling wife pay.

Colin. Just the name made Alessandro__ gut burn. He knew the man wanted his wife, even if Brianna was too blind to see it. The moron had been cuckolded by the paragon of supposed virtue, his wife Carrie and now he had finally opened his eyes and seen what Alessandro had known all along. Brianna put every other woman in New York to shame. No woman could come near her beauty, her passion, her fire. Colin had tossed her aside for the angelic Carrie and now he was changing his mind. Oh no you don__, you miserable fucker. __er friend indeed,_ Bernardo drawled, his Italian accent thick with unmistakable implication. __at__ da truth. He no make her cry all da time._ That was directed at Alessandro, with small dark accusatory eyes. __e nice._ Alessandro couldn__ look at those eyes without feeling a sickening pang of guilt. She__ mine! He wanted to scream. Mine! Mine! Mine! __h yes. Very nice. He was very nice when he held her at the cemetery and very nice when he was dancing with her at Adresca._ That made Alessandro__ head lift in surprise. __h yes, my boy. She__ been there, cleaning up the rubble and word is that she__ working on re-opening it. Her friend Colin has been quite helpful in that endeavour._ __ don_ like how you say dat,_ Will said scowling. __eally young William, I only speak the truth,_ Bernardo taunted. Alessandro__ mind was racing. NO! Not Colin. He could not let that imbecile take Brianna away from him. He__ have to be eliminated somehow. Alessandro began to plot all the different ways he could ensure that Colin Neally stayed away from his wife, permanently. They all involved grisly, violent methods. He could not be allowed to win Brianna.

Not_ Bree struggled for the right words. __ll my life, I__e just wanted someone to put me first. I thought Alessandro was that man. But even after everything Bernardo has done, I mean, Arturo wouldn__ have ever shot Alessandro if Bernardo hadn__ raised him to be a monster, even knowing that, Alessandro refuses to cut his ties with his father. So_yeah, I guess I do blame Alessandro for getting shot. God, that sounds so horrible._ Bree covered her face with her hands again.

Yeah, well, he__ having a hard time dealing, you know?_ Bree asked uneasily. __hat__ understandable. How are you coping?_ he asked, reaching out and touching her arm. Gianni shifted in her arms and looked down at Colin__ hand. __t__ taking some getting used to. Let__ just say it__ a bit of a relief to take a break for a little while. I__ more worried about the kids though and this is affecting them so I__ hoping to get in to see Dr. Graham. She was a big help to Will a while back._ __h, yeah. I hear great things about her. You know she doesn__ just work with kids, right?_ Bree narrowed her eyes but smiled in amusement. __s that a hint?_ __ot a very subtle one, I know. Hey Gianni, how you doing, huh? Wow, you__e sure getting big,_ Colin remarked. __e sure is. He__ almost standing all by himself now, aren__ you, Gianni? You wanna show Colin?_ Bree asked. __ooo,_ Gianni insisted, burying his face in Bree__ neck. __h, speaking of Mr. Cranky Pants, huh? He didn__ get a lot of sleep last night._ Gianni lifted his head and then looked down, and it was then that Bree noticed Colin still had his hand on her arm. __at,_ Gianni said. Bree cleared her throat and took a step back, not wanting to make the movement seem like she was uncomfortable with Colin touching her.

What I want you to understand is that when I heard your words, it was as if every single second we had spent together up to that point was a lie. Every word, every touch, every kiss. You were looking at me, but you wanted him. I was this_thing to be endured to keep your family safe. You would allow me to touch you, to make love to you all the while wishing for Colin. I thought all that passion we had between us was a complete figment of my imagination and it was a bitter pill to swallow. I hated you. Worse than I__ ever hated anyone in my life. I was determined to make you pay. I__ keep you shackled to me forever as punishment. Keep you away from your true love._ Bree stared at him, unable to fathom such cruelty. Who was this man she loved that was capable of such a thing? __nd then?_ He took a deep shaky breath and leaned against the edge of the desk, crossing his arms over his chest. __hen I spent all my energy trying to prove to myself by looking at you that you were lying to me, to justify what I was doing by picking up little gestures or flickers in your eyes that would prove to me that you felt nothing for me._ Bree rolled her eyes and gave a tearful snort. __nd did you, after how hard I fought for you, did you get what you wanted? Did you prove to yourself what a lying bitch I am?_ __o. Of course not. So I started to doubt what I heard._ __fter living with Bernardo for all your life it had just occurred to you that he just may have tampered with the fucking thing?_ Bree bit out, furiously.

Darling!_ Alessandro exclaimed with a cold sneer as a police guard led him into a holding cell. __hat are you doing here? Did you come to tell me that the crazy fog has lifted and you__e ready to resume your place by my side?_ __ot in this lifetime. That nut house is not my home, and you really are crazy if you think I__ going anywhere with you._ Alessandro__ eyes flickered dangerously. __areful, sweetheart. You are still my wife. Let__ not forget that, eh?_ Bree shook her head. __ou are unbelievable. Do you feel any remorse at all for what you did?_ Alessandro clenched his jaw. __ believe I expressed my remorse quite thoroughly if you recall. I begged you to forgive me and I beg for nothing, Brianna. I laid myself bare and pleaded for you to understand but all you had for me were hateful words._ __h, was I supposed to believe that little performance?_ Bree snapped, forcing herself to block out the image of his hands cupping her face, his tears mingling with her own. __t__ hard to know because I believed you when you looked me in the eye and told me you had nothing to do with what happened to Colin.

A loud clang of what sounded like a tray hitting the marble kitchen floor made Bree jump and Gianni go wide eyed with apparent terror. He covered his ears and shook his head. __ang! Bang! Bang!_ He fell over and covered his head. Bree rushed over to him as he began shrieking fearfully. __aaammaaaaaa!_ __s okay, Gianni. Just a ting falled down,_ Will said patting Gianni__ back but Bree noticed her little boy__ hand was shaking. __t__ okay, sweetie. Mommy__ here. That__ okay,_ she crouched down and gathered Gianni into her arms. __ang! Mama. It bang!_ he wailed into her shoulder, trembling in her arms. __t was just a loud noise. Cook just dropped something, probably a whole big plate of yucky beets. Isn__ that funny?_ she said, forcing a laugh. Jesus Christ, how much more violence would her children be forced to endure? Again, Bree felt selfish for bringing her innocent babies into the Dardano world. Gianni looked up at her, picking up on her tone he gave a small watery smile. __cky ee __ucky yucky beets,_ Bree repeated bouncing him lightly as her heart returned to its normal rhythm in her chest. Gianni giggled and shuddered against her as the last remnants of his fear dissipated. Bree looked over at Will. __ou okay, sweetie?_ Will blinked and looked over at her, wide eyed and his lower lip quivered, but he set his chin like she knew he__ watched Alessandro do and nodded. __ bwave. I nod scared._ Bree smiled at him and kissed his cheek as she ran her fingers through his hair. __ow. That is pretty brave. I know I wasscared when I first heard the noise._ __eally?_ Will asked hesitantly. __efinitely,_ Bree nodded. Gianni echoed the gesture. __ell, dat__ diffen. You__ a girl._ __h, is that so?_ Bree asked setting Gianni on the blanket next to her. __o you think __ause mommy__ a girl she__ a fraidy cat. Huh? Huh?_ she asked poking him. Will curled in on himself and giggled as he tried to avoid her fingers.

He grinned at her. __ell, then I have a bit of a confession to make. Colin said some things to me and the sound of his voice irritated me so I had one of those clowns with the big red noses in the paediatric wing turn him into a balloon animal. A giraffe I__ afraid. Sad fate it was,_ Alessandro joked with no sign of remorse at all.

It was while he was fixing the footage Max had given him that the doubts about the disc Bernardo had played for him began toplague him with ever growing strength. Alessandro couldn__ contemplate his father doing something so cruel but_Bernardo would certainly know how. Hell, Bernardo had taught him how to fiddle with electronics when he was still a teenager. And he wanted Alessandro under his control, under his roof. Knowing that Alessandro was trying to keep his family together and that entailed moving into their own house, out from the Dardano mansion, would Bernardo try to turn him with false information?

All their lives they had slaved at some kind of dull, heavy labor, behind desks and counters, in the fields and at tedious machines of all sorts, saving their pennies and dreaming of the leisure that would be theirs when they had enough. Finally that day came. They could draw a weekly income of ten or fifteen dollars. Where else should they go but California, the land of sunshine and oranges? Once there, they discover that sunshine isn__ enough. They get tired of oranges, even of avocado pears and passion fruit. Nothing happens. They don__ know what to do with their time. They haven__ the mental equipment for leisure, the money nor the physical equipment for pleasure. Did they slave so long just to go to an occasional Iowa picnic? What else is there? They watch the waves come in at Venice. There wasn__ any ocean where most of them came from, but after you__e seen one wave, you__e seen them all. The same is true of the airplanes at Glendale. If only a plane would crash once in a while so that they could watch the passengers being consumed in a __olocaust of flame,_ as the newspapers put it. But the planes never crash. Their boredom becomes more and more terrible. They realize that they__e been tricked and burn with resentment. Every day of their lives they read the newspapers and went to the movies. Both fed them on lynchings, murder, sex crimes, explosions, wrecks, love nests, fires, miracles, revolutions, wars. Their daily diet made sophisticates of them. The sun is a joke. Oranges can__ titillate their jaded palates. Nothing can ever be violent enough to make taut their slack minds and bodies. They have been cheated and betrayed. They have slaved and saved for nothing.

The Mob essentially created the term 'stand-up comic'__ccording to eighty-six-year-old comedian Dick Curtis: 'The Outfit used to manage fighters. A stand-up fighter is a guy that is a puncher. A stand-up guy was a guy who was tough and you could depend on. The Outfit managed fighters and they managed clubs that booked comics, so the term found its way into the lexicon of nightclubs. A guy who just stood there and punched jokes__oke, joke, joke__e was a stand-up comic.

The mob not only grabs hold of art without being entitled to do so, but it also enters the artist. It takes up residence inside the artist and smashes a few holes in the wall, windows to the outer world: The mob wants to be seen.

Crime was my career. I considered myself a craftsman | a true professional. Everybody has a craft they practice. Clean or dirty, safe or dangerous, we all have a viable skill and a part to play in the enigma that comprises our world. A professional is a person who earns moneys for practicing their craft. Having labored many years and becoming experienced in a particular skill, you learn the gradations and eventually reach the title of master.