All Is Fair

“What are you doing?” Toni looked up from her desk. Her father was standing in the doorway of her study, watching her. She was leaned back in her chair, feet on the wooden desk and flicking through a file that she had no right to be looking through. “Is that the file on the crime scene?”

She nodded, snapping it shut and chucking it on the desk. She had looked at it numerous times already, but it said the same thing every time. The killer was unidentified and presumed to be gone. “Same bullshit as always.”

“I told you I wanted you to stay out of this, Antonia.”

“Really?” she asked, folding her hands together in her lap. She gave her father a patronizing glare, knowing very well that she was going to get herself into trouble with him. Ever since Gabe’s death, her father had been treating her like a child, and she was making it worse by butting heads with him. “Because I think you need all the help that you can get. Because last time I checked, the feds aren’t going to do shit about this case!”

“Antonia-“

She cut off his warning tone. “You know their not! This was a good thing for them, and you know it. They’re glad someone took care of a problem they didn’t want to fix themselves. It doesn’t matter how many dirty badges we have in their, this case isn’t going to be solved.”

“That’s not your problem!” he thundered, making her shrink back into her chair. He walked forward. He was a big man, with a terrifying build and eyes that were intense. “You don’t need to worry about it, my guys are on it. You know me, Antonia. These bastards won’t get away with killing one of my sons. But you need to stay out of it, because I’m not letting them take my daughter either. I will take care of this- not you. What are the words, Antonia? They are-"

“Fierce is our fire, strong is our blood,” she interrupted, bowing her head. She looked like a young child being scorned by a parent, and that’s how she felt. Her father loved her too much to ever let her get away with anything. “I know.”

“Do you think we’re going to let this go?” She shook her head no. “Good. Now stay out of it. If I find you sticking your nose in files again or trying to snoop around, I will remove you from the equation and send you away.”

Toni glared at him as he snatched the file off of her desk, storming out of her study and out of the apartment. She chewed on her bottom lip, angry and feeling insignificant. Her eyes glanced up as Louis walked in the room, guilt and sympathy on his face.

“Is there a reason you told him?” she asked bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at her adoptive brother. Louis’ eyes were dark as he leaned against the door frame, guilt in his face. He looked guilty since the moment he walked in here. “Do you like seeing me get yelled at? Is that fun for you?”

“You know it’s not-"

“Then why’d you fucking say anything!”

“Because he asked me, and unlike you I can’t lie to him!” Louis yelled, jabbing a finger at her. Toni got very quiet then. Louis was not usually one to yell at her. He was normally the cold and silent kind of anger, which she preferred to his shouting. “Don’t forget I’m not like you or Gabe- I’m adopted. You? You can lie and get away with it because you’re his own flesh and blood. I was brought into this family by the grace of god and your mother. I’m not going to lie to your father and risk getting killed. He did me a favor by taking me in and raising me- I’m not throwing it in his face. I’m not his son. He lost that.”

Toni softened her gaze. Louis looked on the verge of being emotional, which she did not want. Since Louis had been a part of her family, Toni had known that he always worked harder than anyone else, and that he made sure that everything was done. Unlike Gabe, Louis did not make a joke of things. He loved this family. It were as if he were trying to thank them through his deeds, for taking him and loving him.

But Toni never saw Louis has adopted. She saw him as a part of her and her family. As far as she was concerned, he had been there since birth. There was nothing she couldn’t tell Louis.. well except for the curly-haired boy on her mind. But that was beside the point in that moment.

“Maybe you weren’t listening,” Toni said softly, raising her eyes to meet Louis’, “But dad said ‘one of my sons’ and I’m pretty sure I’m not a boy. One of his sons is gone, but you’re still here.”

“Then why am I allowed to work on it and you’re not?”

Toni laughed ruefully. “Because I’m weak. And you’re not- you never have been.”

Louis was silent for a moment before shaking his head and walking out. But as he left, she could barely hear him say, “I just act like I’m not.”