SHOT in the Back

"Fine." Andrea replied, looking over at Karl to see if he agreed. "I want to talk to Dom as soon as possible about this, Myrrh."

Karl only shrugged in response to Andrea's gaze. Where else would they be able to go? They really had no options anymore....

At least from what he saw they didn't. He glanced out the window at the cars going by.

Myrrh tried to smile but it ended up looking like a grimace. "It'd be best of Dominick didn't see you, Andrea. Anything you have to tell him can go through me." Now that they were safely within de Luca territory, Myrrh slowed down. Still, his gun remained within arm's reach.

"I want to see my cousin." Andrea looked straight at Myrrh as his eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. Her eyes cold but the rest of her face controlled. Max looked between his parents, confused.

"You can't," Myrrh replied just as steadily when Andrea caught his gaze. She still had that fire - it hadn't been crushed by the city yet. Myrrh smiled. There was something comforting about how, despite how Marisol fought, the unbroken youth could fight harder.

"Why not." Andrea said bluntly, not backing down. Her family was almost killed, and she wanted some answers.

"If you won't allow Andrea to see him, then I demand to see him," Karl stated, still looking out the window. Anyone who was playing interested him. Now he was just waiting for the news to play the story.

Nelson was silent as the calls came in, reports of the explosion that happened in De Luca territory. There was no doubt in his mind what they would do next. The blame would be immediately shifted to the Chings.

He mentally sighed, so much for four years of hard work, trying to keep the truce going. He had been able to rebuild the Chings after the devastating events four years ago, and they had regrown into a much more powerful force then they were four years ago, thanks to him. He was quite popular among the majority of the family due to that. But now, this event would certainly lead to war. He had no idea who had struck the blow against the De Lucas, but he knew for certain that it wouldn't be long till they retaliated.

He began making calls, getting everyone alert. The news of the attack had already mad it to the Chings. Wasn't really hard, considering how hard each side watched each other for the slightest sign of an attack.

---

OOC: Hey, I just noticed, but we're severely lacking in the number of Ching characters, just like back in the original.

"Assassins, believe it or not," Myrrh said, his tone careful. He didn't mean to offend her after all. "They aren't all that careless. You guys are alive - they threw smoke grenades without first incapacitating even one of you. This wasn't a serious attempt on your life, Andrea. These people don't care if you live or die; you weren't armed or dangerous. What could they gain by attacking you?" He paused. "You're Dominick de Luca's cousin," he said simply. "They think attacking you will invoke a reaction. And it will. The closer you are to Dom, the more danger you put yourself and your family in. Why do you think Dom hasn't visited you since you moved out?" Myrrh lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "He's been protecting you, Andrea."

Andrea scowled, looking away from Myrrh. Her the grip she hand on the door handle tighted, trying to contain her emotion. She hated feeling so useless. She was a pawn again in the De Luca and Ching conflict, in Marisol's twisted game of life and death and worse than death.

God dammit. The woman thought.

Karl moved his hand to hold onto Andrea's, turning to give her a look. And then a smile, trying to calm her down at the very least.

Andrea looked over at Karl and in a few moments her face softened again, squeezing Karl's hand back. Max looked up between his parents, glad that they had calmed down.

"I hungwy." The little boy voiced, his stomach indeed growling.

"On the bright side," Myrrh announced. "We're here. Home, sweet home."

They parked on the side of the road, not in the driveway. The car wasn't his, after all. Carlotta, standing on the porch and returning from her walk, turned to see an unfamiliar car. She blinked. Myrrh wasn't supposed to be back this early. As Myrrh exited the car, leaving the keys again in the ignition, Carlotta took a look at the people in the back seat.

"...Andrea?"

"We'll go get something to eat soon, alright?" Karl asked the kid, giving a light smile down at him. He let go of Andrea's hand to undo the seatbelt on him and Max.

Andrea nodded, unbuckling her own seat belt and stepping out of the car... and finding herself looking at Carlotta.

"'Lotta?"

'Lotta. No one had called her that in a while. Granted, the only people who talked to her regularly anymore were Uncle and Myrrh, who both called her by her formal name.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Carlotta asked. The last she'd heard, Andrea had moved out to live a normal life with her new family. Dom had let her go without a fuss. She spotted a vaguely familiar man and a small boy in the car as well. Andrea's new family, she guessed.

"Pwetty lady." Max said, pointing at the teenager as he held onto Karl's hand after getting out of the car.

Andrea rubbed the back of her head. "Our house exploded."

"Hey Lotta," Karl said, giving her a wave with his good hand. "Been quite a while, eh?" he then asked of her, chuckling as he glanced around, wondering if there was somewhere close he could take Max to eat. Hearing Max, he cuckled and rubbed the boy's head.

Carlotta sweatdropped at Andrea's confession. "I-I see."

Andrea's husband (?) waved at her. Carlotta stared for a bit, bewildered, before the days of the war came rushing back. "Oh, K-Karl, right? I remember you."

Myrrh interrupted by walking passed her into the house. It was a nice two story place - the ground floor being the second floor. The first floor was underground. With walnut flooring and navy blue walls, his hallways looked dark even with the lights on. Since he and Carlotta rarely spent time here, the decor was minimum and nothing was left lying around. Walking in, the place looked deserted save for the absense of dust and cobwebs.

"Carlotta, they'll be staying here until further notice," he told the girl. "Let them take the guest rooms. Can I ask you to look out for them?"

Carlotta shrugged and offered a helpless smile. "All right, if you say so."

She turned to Andrea. "How many rooms will you need?"

Max pouted again, but enjoyed his head being rubbed.

"Two, if possible." Andrea replied calmly, though she expected Max would want to sleep in their bed tonight, but she was still a little confused, though happy Carlotta was there.

"Are you living with Myrrh?" The woman asked.

"The one and only," Karl said, smiling as he glanced down at Max. "Max, this is Carlotta. Lotta, meet Max." He had to admit, this was a pretty nice place. No way he could deny it.

Carlotta smiled sadly. "Yeah. Myrrh's house is the safest place for me since he's so renown. This place is surrounded by de Luca's best too, so it'd be suicide to come charging in here. I moved in three years ago. Uncle wants peace, but he expected something like this. Here, come in."

As she closed the door, Carlotta said to Max, "Yeah, I'm Carlotta, but you can just call me...'Lotta. I'm an old friend of your parents. I know this house is a little bit scary. I was really scared when I first came here too," she said with a straight face despite the fact she was lying. "But you're pretty big. You're probably braver than I was, right?"

"Nice to meet you, Lawtta,"Max's face turned slightly red as he looked down at the ground. "I... I think I...m... brave..."

Andrea nodded, her face serious. "I see." Her face turned very amused when she looked over at her son and his 'girl' troubles.

"Yes ma'am," Melena nodded, cracking a slight smile. She couldn't help but wonder exactly how much exercise the woman got, but with the way she ate Mel figured it was enough to burn the calories. Or maybe she just had a high metabolism; the possibilities endless.

OOC: Poker, that avvy WILL appear tonight in my nightmares. >.<

"Of course," she said with a grin. "I'll be taking you and your mom and dad downstairs to your room. It's in the basement, and it's a bit scary down there too. You'll protect me, right?"