seconds from insanity ,

[luca angelo giovanni]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding: 30px; border: #2b1c1b solid 30px; ] WELCOME TO OBLIVION OUTFIT: here TAGGED: maggie/staz LOCATION: downtown valkyrie/gas station NOTES: had to start it. and if you read typos. it's 330 am. valid excuse xD ---"SO, you're just gonna hand her the key?" alberto jr. asked, a cigar in one hand, and the single key to the house luca purchased in the other. luca leaned over the table, yanking the key out of his cousin's hand. "no, i'm not just gonna hand her the keys," luca paused for a moment looking down at the silver key. he took a drag from his own cigar. "i mean, we love the loft, but it's already too crowded and the twins aren't even born yet." alberto shook his head. "i don't think i'm going to get used to the fact you two are having twins." luca only smiled. yeah, it was weird at first, but now, it just felt normal. "and you guys are still doing good." luca rolled his eyes. it wouldn't be a normal week if at least three of his family members asked him that same question. "yes. we're good, we've been good." luca and alberto were sitting in the back office of the italian restaurant fausto bought a few months ago. though it was an authentic italian restaurant, it was the unspoken head office of the gambling ring. the ring luca was in charge of, so he spent most of his days back here. luca had been working on some last minute things up until about a half hour ago when alberto showed up out of the blue with some cigars and some mafia rumblings and stories. alberto was mostly based in los angeles with fausto, considering he was fausto's oldest son, however, ever since the explosion hit, alberto had been popping in valkyrie a couple days a week to visit. he said valkyrie had grown on him. alberto was like a brother to luca. he had been luca's teacher when he moved to la. so, alberto was someone luca really looked up to. he was one of his best friends. "so you heard how papa bratva made an appearance in valkyrie?" alberto asked. this piqued luca's interest. what? he hadn't heard anything. "really. hm. guess he had to clean up the mess his foolish son was in." alberto and luca both starting laughing. "yeah, eyes at the inferno spotted him." though it had been a few weeks since the explosion, the cops were still no closer to finding the culprit or culprits responsible for it. but that's what the valkyrie cops and detectives were used to; a whole lot of nothing. there were suspicions, of course, but with no solid proof of anything, it was just that, suspicions. but luca did feel special pleasure that stanislav was getting put in his place... by his own father. luca was truly getting sick and tired of that smug asshole. coming into valkyrie like they had been occupying the whole damn town for centuries. even the giovannis had subtly knew their place since the sirens had been here first. fausto was all about making allys with gangs. eventually though, the sirens faded into the background as people moved around, some left, some quit, luca didn't know the full story, just what he had heard from others. but because of their alliance with the sirens, the italians had been able to get connected with one of their contacts, kale, who constructed their bomb. everything always seemed to work out for them. alberto looked down at his watch. "i should get going. i have to go to go back to los angeles tonight." luca nodded. he had to get home soon as well. he had been skyping maggie earlier this morning telling her he had a surprise for her. "i never knew why i didn't come down here more often," alberto continued, finishing the rest of his cigar before putting it out in the ashtray that sat between the middle of them. "at least in los angeles, people know their place. here, it's a giant free for all. i kind of miss that." luca smiled. "like when before we had to grow up?" he asked. when luca had just been starting out, they had been the typical soldiers, even if they carried the name, they were all about showing everyone who's balls were the biggest. luca did kind of miss that. he had since mostly graduated from the constant physical stuff. he was a captain, who was more of a leader. he had other people to send out on the physical stuff. that didn't mean luca didn't have to get his hands dirty every once in awhile. the restaurant had only been open for three months, but luca had definitely gotten himself acquainted with the kitchen. last week, one of his soldiers held down another guy's hand on a cutting board while luca threatened and wielded the meat cleaver. the restaurant was convenient to say the least. they both got up. it was close to eight and the restaurant itself was still open and serving to customers. when luca and alberto left the office and went into the dining area, it was pretty busy. a few people looked away from their conversations to stare, but luca just continued until he was outside. alberto said, "i'll probably be seeing you again sometime this week." they shook hand and slapped each other's shoulders before taking off in separate directions. luca got into his car and stopped at a flower shop on the way home. funny... that last time he got her flowers, she threw them in the trash right in front of him. yeah, luca doubted that was going to happen again since they were no longer fighting. a dozen roses. yeah, she would like that. he quickly paid for them and drove the rest of the way home. he took the stairs two at a time, his patience running thin with the damn elevator. "maggie?" he called when he opened the door. he started walking towards the island bar in the kitchen, placing his keys on the counter. "i got you flowers... and no, that's not your surprise." he looked over by their bed and saw the glow of light something from underneath the bathroom door. OH, I THINK I'M LOSING IT

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN @ CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY MADINA LAKE

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[magdelena e. g. giovanni]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; height: 380px; background-color:#E3E3E3; border-left: 20px solid #7D463F; border-bottom:20px solid #7D463F; border-top:20px solid #7D463F; border-right: 20px solid #7D463F;] these were tense times. maggie could feel it in the air whenever luca came home or anytime he came to see her at the lounge. it was strange. there hadn't been a feeling like this in a long time, if not ever, at least from maggie's experience. the only time she'd ever felt a modicum of this was when she and luca had played characters and infiltrated a russian underground casino. maggie had been shot at that night but none of that seemed to compare to whatever build up there was in valkyrie now. it tended to make maggie glad that none of her important family was here. yes she'd gotten the word a few weeks ago that j.r.'s room was empty and looked like it hadn't been lived in for weeks. no goodbye, no letter, no nothing. he was just gone. maggie couldn't explain what was going on with that one. she had hoped that she would have been able to coax his troubles out of him at some point but nothing goes as planned. when j.r. showed up again so had luca and maggie had just been caught up in a whirlwind of hate, mistrust, and pregnancy. now that that was settled maggie had a whole new beast on her hands, the explosion and what kind of retaliation the italians could hope to see from that. like she'd promised, maggie had been more careful for luca's sake. she didn't want him stressing out about her when he could very well be the target of some new attack. maggie didn't like the thought of that and she figured that promising him she would be safer would give him the peace of mind to focus. hoped at least. now she didn't go anywhere without bodyguards. they escorted her to and from the lounge but now she only showed up if it was necessary she do so. she'd given her stage manager a majority of control for however long this mess lasted and though he wasn't an "in" of sorts, he knew that something was going on and that if he didn't keep the lounge running it would be his head. the lounge was her baby. everyone knew that. but because she tended to cater to everyone, no matter what the affiliation, as long as no trouble was started, her place seemed pretty safe. of course if anyone wanted to dull the hell out of valkyrie and ugly the place up a bit they could take out the lounge but that wouldn't benefit anyone. the italian's biggest money-gathering scheme was the drug running and none of that was on paper. every last bit of the planning, the routes, etc were in maggie's head. blowing up the place would do nothing but reduce the number of meeting places the italians had by one. it wouldn't be a big blow to the italians but it would send one raging, hormonal mexican on their asses and no one wanted that. maggie liked the fear factor. she liked that people didn't want to piss her off. it made life a lot more tolerable in most cases. but she reserved her judgment and let any paying patron in her doors as long as they sat back and enjoyed the show and let that be that. the lounge wasn't neutral ground by any stretch of the imagination, but giovanni plans weren't being hatched out behind those walls, at least nothing tangible. it tended to make her feel a little more safe when she was there, not to mention sane. but the guard tally was always high at the lounge. you had your standard bouncers, your thugs who were paid to protect the girls, and then maggie's thugs. all in all she could operate a small army if need be and that kind of security made maggie feel all warm and cuddly inside. or maybe that was the pair of lives she had growing inside of her. who really knew. all in all maggie wasn't feeling much different as a mother to be. she was hormonal, she was craving the weirdest shit, but otherwise she was her regularly domineering, overbearing, and demanding self. it was nice to know that she wasn't going soft on anyone. if anything people slacking or their overall inability to do work pissed her off so much that she did things irrationally. she didn't baby anyone. if anything she lashed out more. this in turn triggered the fear which was like a warm bowl of milk to an unhappy kitty. it put her at ease and made her...lenient. thankfully for all involve maggie was home today. she'd spent a few hours on skype with her stage manager getting updates on the day, wardrobe casualties, etc. she couldn't have been happier when the call ended though. the curse of carrying your future was the pressure it put on your bladder. maggie had been fine at the beginning of her chat with her manager but by the end she was fighting the urge to fidget in her chair. just as she was finishing up in the bathroom when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. "just a minute." she said as she pulled her extra weight off the toilet, yes the extra weight was beginning to pack itself on. no she wasn't happy about it. already she was showing, so much so she couldn't hide the obvious anymore. she gave her hands a quick wash and opened up the door, leaning against the doorframe. "flowers? how sweet. though that didn't bode so well for you last time." she said with a smirk. "good thing you haven't been on my bad side lately." she pushed off the doorframe and walked up to him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him. "thank you baby. how was a.j.?" her coined term for baby alberto. notes, tag: luca/staz word count, 977 thanks brooklyn from caution

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[luca angelo giovanni]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 340px; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding: 30px; border: #2b1c1b solid 30px; ] WELCOME TO OBLIVION OUTFIT: here TAGGED: maggie/staz LOCATION: downtown valkyrie/gas station NOTES: --- --- LUCA heard her call from the bathroom and he decided to thumb through the day's mail. he really did not want to live here anymore. sure, it carried a lot of memories between the two of them. but, it just wasn't a place to raise a family. it was hard to feel safe sometimes in the loft. sure, they had some security of course, but luca didn't feel like it was enough. then again, nothing would probably ever be enough for him. the retaliation that had yet to happen was just putting him on edge. not just for him, for every soldier in the giovannis. everyone was just watching their six more often than their twelve these days. maybe this was where the russians wanted them. always looking over their shoulder, impatiently waiting for the ball to drop. it was just frustrating. it didn't help that staz and luca personally hated each other. they were princes in their respective kingdoms, but they both liked to have their way and they both couldn't have that. the door opened and luca glanced over to maggie. he smiled. yup, right into the trash they went. he shrugged his shoulders, "yeah, maybe not. you know me, i had to at least try." he smirked when she said it was a good thing he wasn't on her bad side. yeah, that was a good thing, since luca had been on that side one too many times. luca kept his eyes on her as she walked towards him. she told him on the daily how big she was getting, and he knew she didn't like it. she was carrying twins, so yeah, she would be bigger than a pregnancy with just one kid. luca kept having to reassuring her that she looked great, though he was sure it was falling on deaf ears because she was just going to think what she wanted. stubborn. luca just had to get use to that trait, since he was positive both their kids would inherit it. her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him. it showed how big she was getting, since her stomach had since gotten in the way of their embraces. but luca didn't mind it. "he's good. he had to drive back to los angeles tonight. i think he likes it here too much." he kissed her again. al liked being around here because it always felt like there was going to be a sudden fight bursting out of the next alleyway. luca was sure he could get those same thrill in los angeles, but the warfare here in valkyrie was just more... heated or personal or something. maybe because valkyrie was significantly smaller in population than in los angeles. it was like everyone knew each other somehow. luca hated that. "are you ready to go? we have to drive to your surprise," he said, rubbing her shoulders. he was excited, and he knew it must be showing. it was uncharacteristic of him. but he wanted to make maggie smile, get her excited. luca knew that he didn't need to buy her a house to show her how much he loved her, and that wasn't the idea of his decision. sometimes, you just wanted to do something for someone you loved, and that was what luca was doing. he grabbed his keys off the counter and held her hand in his as he pulled her towards the elevator. yeah, he didn't want to use the stairs. what if she fell? luca was over thinking, something he rarely did. "you are going to love your surprise." he kissed her hand and held that smile that only said 'i have a secret, and i want to tell you, but i can't.' once outside, he opened her car door before climbing in himself. luca started the car, and got onto the main road. he navigated into the direction of the house. luca glanced down at the car's dials, seeing the gas tank was almost empty. he had been in such a rush to get home, he didn't even notice it before or else he would have filled up when he got her the flowers. "we gotta make a pit stop first, babe. i have to put some gas in." luca had been thinking a lot about raising kids. for a bit, he thought they were crazy. their marriage was hanging on by a thread and still ending up pregnant? some people would call that their saving grace, but there was a point where he had to convince maggie that of course he wanted her and the baby. but, the pregnancy did push them onto a faster track of reconciliation. they still occasionally ran into some past unresolved problems. at least they were working on it, and not just fighting about it. the 'old them' would just fight and remain pissed, but look at them, acting like adults. luca spotted a gas station on the right side and pulled in. "i'll be quick," he said, got out, and walked around to maggie's side where the gas tank was. OH, I THINK I'M LOSING IT

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN @ CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY MADINA LAKE

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[magdelena e. g. giovanni]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; height: 380px; background-color:#E3E3E3; border-left: 20px solid #7D463F; border-bottom:20px solid #7D463F; border-top:20px solid #7D463F; border-right: 20px solid #7D463F;] maggie was pretty attached to this place but she wouldn't lie, it held some pretty bad memories for her. she didn't want to be in a place where she constantly remembered just how alone she had been. it wasn't fair to him because as long as she was here she couldn't even begin to forget everything that had happened. she loved the place and how it seemed to fit them, well, before everything happened. it was true this place was too small for both she and luca and the twins. twins. god maggie still couldn't get over that. she was reminded of it every day when she woke up and was x amount of pounds heavier but it still didn't seem to really register with her. one kid she could deal with. one kid she could come to terms with. having two? she blamed luca. he was a twin after all. that shit was genetic. either way there was nothing to be done about it now. she was pregnant, they were together, and they were trying to get over this gigantic road block in their lives. maggie had to admit that it was mostly her fault. whenever she went to a place of anger the fact that he left was the first of many weapons she threw his way. she knew luca had felt like he was doing the right thing but the way it had happened, the things that had been said, it wasn't right. none of it would have been right and as much as she would have liked to say that she could have done better if he'd talked to her about or something instead of just up and leaving, well it likely wouldn't have helped. hell there was a chance that even if the impossible had happened and he'd let her go with him, that they would have fought and ended up in the same place they were now. still maggie was under the firm belief that when they were in the same room together they were better off. when they were apart they were wrecks. they couldn't seem to function at all, at least not in a healthy way. when they were together they were disfunctional, yes, but at least they could get it out of their systems right then and there. maggie was actually worlds more cam whenever luca was around, it that was at all believable. though he angered her to no end and though she tried and failed to forgive him on many accounts, just him being there and his presence was enough to soothe her. it was enough to prove that yes they verbally beat the hell out of each other and in any other case they would have crashed and burned as a couple but he was there, within arm's reach, and he wasn't leaving again. that in itself seemed to be enough for her. just to have him near enough to touch, enough to know that she could reach out to him if she needed to, was enough to put her at ease. because if she could see him then he really wasn't that far away and if he wasn't that far away then he wasn't leaving any time soon. that was always the justification she needed. all she wanted was the constant proof that he wasn't ever going to leave her again. it was a lot to ask but t was his fault to begin with for instilling that fear in her. had he never left, or had he left with her, at least they would have been together. yes he'd been looking out for her safety and all that but...but...but... that would always be the argument right? there would never be an end to it. that was the real shame right there. hell, maybe having kids and forcing luca to have a reason to stay would put her at more ease than his constant presence. maybe then it would just all be over for her and she could just be happy with the life that was seemingly continuing on without her. "it was a decent try. this time around i like it much more." she said as she kissed his cheek. yes there was a barrier between then now, no she didn't like the reminder. "yeah i'm ready. i want to see this thing you been tempting me about forever." she teased. it was his fault for telling her about it and making her wait for what seemed like forever to actually take her to said surprise. she honestly had no idea what it was he was going to be showing her in the first place and wracking her brain didn't seem to be doing any good at all. she hopped into the car as he opened the door, smirking at the gentlemanly gesture as she pulled her seatbelt into place, sighing as it stretched to reach over her stomach. "if you insist. are we really driving that far out? what are you doing? dumping me in the desert?" she joked as they pulled in to the gas station. she leaned her seat back a little further, fidgeting to make herself comfortable, as he hopped out. "you better me." she jokingly narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. notes, tag: luca/staz word count, 890 thanks brooklyn from caution

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