Chapter Two
Gianni Mancuso was a big man, years of working out at the gym had turned his body into solid muscle. He was loud, boisterous and temperamental. When you were Gianni's friend, you had his complete loyalty. When you were an enemy, you watched your back.
Tony had become the man's friend, charming his way into the organization that Gianni ran with his brothers. The older brother, Vincenzo, was more like his late father, tall and slender. Vinny looked like he'd be at home in a corporate board room or on the golf course. He wore expensive tailored suits and had manicured hands. He oozed charm and poise, and his smile was cold and predatory. The youngest brother, Antonio, was medium height, with nervous habits. His eyes darted about, always watching out for threats.
Tony had managed to work his way into the good graces of the Mancusos by posing as an arms dealer. After the death of their father, the brothers were expanding the business to include buying and selling illegal weapons in addition to their deals in prostitution, gambling, drugs and influence peddling. The FBI had requested Tony's help in infiltrating the family, having lost their best Mafia expert the previous year. Gibbs wasn't too keen on the idea, saying they didn't have any jurisdiction in the case, but he relented when Fornell told him that the weapons being dealt had been stolen from shipments going to Iraq. He agreed to let the FBI back up his agent, but not before giving Tony a lecture about not doing anything foolish.
Following Gianni into the huge house, Tony casually glanced around, spotting the 'worker' on the telephone pole, checking the wires, but watching the house closely.
"Allie!" Gianni yelled. "I brought company for dinner." He turned to Tony. "You're gonna love my sister's cooking. She learned everything from my mother, real old-world Italian-style cooking."
"What, you think I'm running a soup kitchen here, you can bring in every stray that follows you home?" A tall, slender young woman came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. Her dark hair was pulled back and her face was flushed with the heat of the kitchen. She approached her brother and his friend, eyeing the stranger speculatively.
"Allie, this is Anthony DeMarco. Anthony, this is my sister, Alexandra Mancuso."
Tony smiled and held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mancuso."
Alexandra accepted his hand and nodded. "Yeah, likewise." Swatting her brother with the kitchen towel, she scolded, "Gianni, did you remember to bring the wine?"
Holding up the paper bag with the bottles, he grinned at his sister. "Do I ever forget what you ask for?"
"Go get washed up. I hope you're hungry, Mr. DeMarco, there's plenty of food."
"Anthony," Tony replied, "and yes, I'm starving." She smiled at him and returned to the kitchen.
The meal was everything Gianni had said it would be. There was an abundance of pasta and sauce, sausage and peppers, chicken and veal. The sumptuous dinner was topped off with homemade cannoli and strong espresso. Talk of business was forbidden at the table and the conversation covered everything from politics and sports, to the latest movies.
Tony found that he didn't work very hard to charm the Mancuso family, his interests meshed beautifully with all of them. He felt himself drawn to the only female at the table, which wouldn't have surprised Gibbs or Ziva, or any other member of his team. What would have surprised them, however, was the intellectual conversation he held with the young woman, peppered with occasional current pop culture references. Alexandra rivaled him in his knowledge of classic and obscure movies.
Tony spent the next few days working out details for a shipment of automatic rifles stolen from Camp Lejeune, to be sold to the Mancusos. He had dinner with the family every evening, enjoying the food and camaraderie during mealtime. If he didn't know so much about the brothers, he would have been very drawn to the whole family, especially Alexandra.
On the fourth day of the operation everything went to hell in a handbasket. Vincenzo Mancuso's attitude toward him had changed subtly, he couldn't quite place his finger on the difference. Gianni remained friendly, but Antonio was also more wary. Tony started to feel as if things were going badly. He tried to request help from his backup without alerting the brothers, but he wasn't sure he was getting through to them. Short of yelling, "Get me out of here!" Tony didn't know how else he could sound the alarm. Gianni's explosive attack came out of the blue and before he knew what was happening, Tony was knocked unconscious.
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Groaning, Tony tried to rub his head, but found he was tied up. He opened his eyes carefully, squinting at the bright light, finding himself lying on the floor of what appeared to be an old basement.
Sitting on a chair, looking at him with a slight smile on his face, was Vincenzo Mancuso.
"Ahhh, you're awake," purred Vincenzo. "I was afraid Gianni had gotten carried away and killed you."
Tony tried to sit up, but gave up when his stomach tried to come up through his throat. "Guess he didn't," he rasped.
"So, you're a Federal agent." Mancuso cocked his head. "FBI."
"On loan to them. I'm with NCIS." Tony figured talking wouldn't hurt, his cover was already blown. Hopefully the Feebs would be coming soon, or Gibbs.
"Don't know them," dismissed Vincenzo with a wave.
Tony sighed. "Yeah, I'm not surprised. We're not that well known."
"You are Italian, though," continued Vincenzo, ignoring what Tony had said. "What's your real name?"
"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."
Vinny looked surprised. "Your family the DiNozzos of Long Island?"
Surprised himself, Tony nodded.
Vinny shook his head. "Shame about your father cutting you off like that. When Pop heard about that, he was pissed. He always said, ‘blood is blood, familia is all you can trust'."
"Your father knew my father?"
Vinny laughed. "They didn't do business, if that's what you're asking. You don't have to be mafioso to have," he paused before continuing, "questionable business practices."
"How do you know that?" Tony tried to keep his voice calm.
"We know a lot of what goes on in the Italian-American community. My father may not have been an honest man, but he was what he was, there was no pretending to be a pillar of the community."
Tony smiled grimly. "Yeah, okay."
"Pop would never cut one of his children off, just for not following in his footsteps."
"How would you know? It seems all of you have, except for Alexandra."
Smiling, Vinny said, "Pop believed in family above all else. He didn't want Antonio to join the business, thought it would be too 'stressful' for him, but he let him do what he wanted."
"Admirable," Tony said, "he was a model father."
Laughing, Vinnie stood. "He was, actually. He would do anything for his family, do anything to give his children all the advantages he didn't have. He really wanted to have a priest in the family, but none of us had the inclination."
"What a shame."
Vinnie started to go up the stairs. "Gianni has a few things to say to you, Anthony. He'll be down shortly. Don't keep him too long, it's almost time for dinner."
Hissing in pain, Tony settled back against the wall, trying to check out his surroundings. He was in a cellar, not a basement. There were no windows, no exits other than the one at the top of the stairs. It was cold and damp, but luckily there were no rats or cockroaches, at leastthat he could see. The room was empty, except for the chair, a table and a dirty mattress.
Tony looked up when he heard a sound. Gianni and Antonio Mancuso came down the stairs, making sure the cellar door was closed securely behind them. Gianni had a feral look on his face as he stood looking at the bound agent.
"Well, Anthony," he growled. "Let's get this party started." He motioned to Antonio, who put a case down on the table and opened it. He reached in and handing Gianni something. When Gianni turned around, Tony saw he was wearing brass knuckles on both hands.
This was going to be bad.
TBC
Author's Chapter Notes:
Tony goes undercover for the FBI, but they drop the ball and he pays the price.
Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer I don't own the characters in this story, except for the original ones. I'm not making any money from this, no copyright infringement is intended.
Huge thanks to my beta, Rinne, for correcting my errant punctuation. She's a peach.
Huge thanks to my beta, Rinne, for correcting my errant punctuation. She's a peach.