After the interview had finished, they had told Eden that she could go on a tour of the school to talk to the kids to get ready for the next day for her first day and get her questions answered if she had any. This option was not given to his brother exactly in this way because his interview had been in late afternoon when most kids had gone home. So he had to have a tour of an almost empty school.

Since Gabriela had brought Eden back she was asked if she wanted to give Eden a tour of the school and take her to a couple of lessons that matched her time table for her to get a feel of the school. Gabriela happily agreed. Gabriela looked at Eden's timetable and was surprised that coincidently all Eden's lessons were with Luigi. It was an interesting coincidence. Meanwhile Eden's brother was not in any of Eden's classes though since their options did not match. They had completely different specialisms in mind academically.

Gabriela took Eden on a tour and showed her a few important locations. She then took her to a science class. The class were doing experiments in groups of 4 as Gabriela and Eden entered. Gabriela introduced Eden to the teacher and the teacher told Eden that she was welcome to go walk around the class and talk to the students.

Gabriela lead Eden around the class and introduced her to the different tables under the heavy stare of Luigi that Gabriela was fully aware of. Gabriela was saving that table to last. Luigi was sitting with two boys and one girl. It was obvious the teacher had placed them in pre arranged groups and on this occasion they did not choose their groups. The boys were Luigi's and Gianluca's friends, Emilio Etori and Edoardo Enrici. They were not the problem there. They were fine. The girl was the problem. She was the pushiest and most irritating girl if you asked Luigi. He did not like her at all. Her name was Linda Lawrence and she was American. She was the editor of the schools newspaper.

Gabriela finally reached Luigi's table and introduced Eden. Before Luigi could say anything, Linda took a step towards Eden and spoke with excitement "I am so happy a new student is joining us... Tell me. Are you interested in journalism?"

Eden shrugged "I like ... writing I suppose. Aren't we in a science class though? Why do you ask?" She was taken back by her question.

Linda said "Wow. I am so glad..."

Emilio said "Linda here runs the school newspaper. She is trying to recruit you to become one of her journalists. Say no."

Edoardo said "Run for your life girl. You wouldn't want to become a reporter working under Linda."

Luigi scoffed. Eden was not the type to run away and neither did she need to ever do that. Luigi was never going to allow her to do anything she did not want to do at this school.

Linda turned to Edoardo and said "Stop." She then turned to Eden and said "Don't listen to these guys. There is nothing wrong with the school newspaper that I run. If you love writing you would not mind trying out being a reporter I hope. What do you say? So you want to report for us?"

Luigi was silent. This Linda girl annoyed him to no end but he was content just listening to Eden interact with others. It gave him a chance to get to know her better. It was hard to get information out of her about what she was into or liked. So he observed for now unless they upset his girl.

Eden said "Well. I have not done any journalism work before. What section of your newspaper do you need reporters for. What topics?"

Linda said "Any really. We have different sections. We have sports, movies, politics, crime, literature you name it. Tell me what do you want to write about? But we are short on sports and crime the most. There are not many takers on them right now."

Emilio laughed "No takers for sports? I wonder why..."

Linda turned to him "Stop..."

Edoardo said to Linda "What's wrong? You can't tell her what happened to the last soul who reported sports for you?"

Eden asked "What happened to them?"

Linda said "Nothing significant really..."

Emilio said "Maybe to you ..."

Edoardo said "The guy was jumped on his way to school by rival team supporters because Linda here wanted a juicy report with words that those supporters found offensive. So she edited the report and insulted them calling out the supporters in the headline calling them "the loser loner army". That incident of the reporter being jumped for this worud have made a good headline for her crime column but too bad there was no one to write it up for her... She has been struggling with filling vacant posts these days..."

Linda said "The loser army didn't like being called out on what they are." She then turned to Eden "Please ignore them. Don't let them put you off. I wrote "Loser Loner Army Was Sent Packing". I guess they didn't like that."

Eden smiled and said "I see nothing wrong with calling out losers. I think journalists should write the truth and insert their opinions when they can. I am no fan of the sports big shots and their so called army of obsessed mad jocks. They are getting too big for their boots if you as me. I can't write for the sports column because I do not follow sports. I don't want to promote jocks. But I might give your crime page a try."

Luigi was listening intently. Was she interested in crime?

Linda said "I am so happy. You wouldn't regret it. What do you need for reporting crime? Do you need any resources?"

Eden said "I might give my uncle a call. He knows about crime..."

Edoardo, Bruno and Luigi were paying full attention now asking themselves why she said that.

Linda asked "Who is he? A cop."

Eden said "No. He isn't. He is a lawyer."

Linda asked "So he defends victims of the crime in court? Maybe he can give us some examples of issues facing the states..."

Eden said "No actually. He defends criminals."

Linda asked "He does?"

Luigi's mouth was open now. Which lawyer would admit to openly defending criminals.

Eden nodded "Yes. He does defend them. They always pay him more than the other side. So he takes the side that bank rolls him."

Luigi asked "Don't you find that problematic? I mean don't you think a lawyer should defend the side that was wronged?"

Eden said "It's his choice what he wants to do with his degree. I don't judge. To him his job is to make a living. Nothing more. Whoever pays more would be his client. Normally criminals have big cash flow. He has never lost a case. He is a good lawyer. He graduated top of his class from Harvard Law School."

Linda said "I think you are right. It's his choice. Do you think he can give you information about recent news and issues on crime these days? "

Eden said "He knows a lot about crime. I will ask him."

Linda said "Thank you. Oh my god, I am so excited to have a new recruit. You will not regret joining the school newspaper team. I promise. I better get back to my experiment." She then walked to her seat and got on with her experiment. Obviously she had accomplished her mission and had nothing else to say to the new girl.

Edoardo and Emilio gave Eden their last warnings to change her mind about joining the school newspaper and went back to their seats.

That left Luigi who was standing there abit further back while Gabriela was there hoping Eden had a good impression of the school. But she had to hand it to Eden. She seemed so confident. There was an air of confidence around her that said she was not phased by being new and there was nothing nervous about her. She had talked to every single student in the class and she seemed kind of popular already.

Eden had her shoulders back and staring straight at Luigi who was looking at her with an unreadable expression. She said "I knew I might bump into you on this tour... After all we will be sharing classes."

Luigi asked "Sharing which classes." He wondered which classes she had picked that were common with hers.

Eden said "Every class"

Luigi said "Every class? Serious? Aren't you taking any classes at the Irish school?"

Eden said "No. I am good here. I was convinced the best option is here."

Luigi was looking at her, staring into her eyes and they had a silent moment. He had every single class with her.

Eden said "I think Gabriela and I should go unless you want to recruit me for anything you manage in this school too?"

Gabriela chuckled. She was not only smart and confident but she also had a sense of humour too. Gabriela said " He is new like you too. He is vice captain of the football team. He has not chosen his after school clubs and recreation time activities yet... He only started a few days ago."

Eden said "Actually about that... My brother is in none of my classes because of the timetable clashes and the kind of options he has picked. You are the only new student in my classes. I will appreciate it if we pair up on projects and activities where new students are given longer mentoring and tutoring time if they pair up together. Do you agree? I am confident in my studying techniques but some of these subjects are new to me as well as how the school grading system works in projects especially. So do we have a deal to work together as a team for the sake of academic achievement? I can't stand you sometimes but I would be willing to overlook our differences at school. There is nothing that I would not be willing to overlook or do to keep up my top grades."

Gabriela knew Luigi was over the moon and she applauded him for masking it.

Luigi said indifferently "Yes. Sure. Why not?" He was bursting with joy inside. Could this get any better? He was the one who was going to spend the most time with her and it was the perfect opportunity to get to know her and give her time to perhaps get to know him."

Eden said "Also I have a few clubs in mind that have special reward trips and internships that give priority to new students who do well in them. I think you should consider going those with me. Maybe we can help each other out as a team..."

Luigi shrugged "Sure." It did get better and better.

Eden turned to Gabriela "Can we go on the rest of the tour now?

Gabriela walked to Eden "Of course. Let's go."

Eden then told Luigi goodbye and walked away from Gabriela. He watched her walk outside the class and he let out the deep breath that he was holding. He missed her presence already.

****

Luigi got home from school with Lena. They got off the car and went straight to their rooms to get changed and do their homework before dinner.

Near dinner time, Luigi made his way downstairs to see his father in his office. Lothario Alessandrini was sitting behind his desk and busy with paper work. Luigi entered and his father said "You came right on time son."

Luigi asked "On time? For what?"

Lothario smiled "Your grandfather called. He wants us to meet him for dinner."

Luigi asked "So... what time is he getting here?"

Lothario said "He is not coming here. We are going to him. We are meeting at one of the Bellagio restaurants."

Luigi filled in the gaps. Gilberto Bellagio was going to be there too. Gilberto Bellagio was Gianluca's grandfather who had come days ago from Sicily. Their family had gone to see him at his welcome party at the Bellagio mansion when his father was on his business trip and now most likely Gilberto wanted to see his father and Luigi's grandfather had arranged it. This way it showed respect. Luigi's grandfather was not the head of the family because he had handed the position to his son, around the same time Gilberto Bellagio had handed over his empire to his son Gerrardo Bellagio. But it did not mean he was retired by any means. He was mysterious in his activities. He networked with other heads of families and still was active. Just like how Gianluca's grandfather was active. But Gianluca's grandfather, Gilberto Bellagio lived in Sicily now. Luigi had no idea what he was upto in Sicily. Gianluca did not know much but he knew his grandfather still was involved in business. But whenever his grandfather took trips to the states he made them extended into trips. He stayed long.

Luigi had nothing against Gilberto Bellagio, but he sometimes clashed with his grandfather, Lorenzo Alessandrini and his father, Lothario Alessandrini on some business matters. Luigi just had to keep his views to himself and fight the urge to make comments when the adults had debates. He had to show respect.

Luigi asked "Are we going to see Gianluca's grandfather as well at this restaurant. Is that why we are meeting at a Bellagio owned restaurant when we have plenty nice restaurants owned by us nearby?"

Lothario said "Yes. That is correct son. I did not get the chance to see Gilberto Bellagio when I was on my business trip. Your grandfather called him and said it would be great if we could have a sit down to catch up. You will be able to catch up with Gianluca there too. He is coming with his father, Gerrardo. They are coming separately because they had a business matter to deal with this afternoon."

Luigi remembered. Gianluca had to leave school early today.

Luigi nodded. It was going to be an eventful dinner.

****

At the restaurant, the six people from three different generations were sitting around a large round table. The two grandfathers, Lorenzo Alessandrini and Gilberto Bellagio were sitting at one side next to each other and deep talking. With some space along the round table, the fathers, Gerrardo Bellagio and Lothario Alessandrini were sitting together and talking.

Gianluca and Luigi were sitting next to each other further away from them and eating their dinner mostly in silence and making small talk from time to time. They did not care much to listen very intently when they discussed personal life but when the adults were talking about business they were listening most intently.

Gilberto Bellagio was talking about Irish-Italian relations. He said "The last time I came here the relations were bad but from what I see now, it is getting worse. This is going in the direction of a mob war. A long and violent one. We need to be ready."

Gerrardo, his son said "I agree. We are ready father. We have tried to keep the peace. It is better for business if we don't engage in a war with the Irish but if they keep issuing threats to our businesses and evading our borders I do not see how this will go to the direction of retaining peace. The tensions are rising too high. If they kill our men, peace is no longer an option. We will defend our people."

Gilberto Bellagio said "Gerrardo, son, I hear what you say, but do you think it is wise that your son has a close friendship with the Kavannagh heir. It is not safe for him to travel to the Kavannagh territory when we are at the bring of a war with the Irish."

Gianluca was not happy with them bringing up his friendship with Christian. He had no intention of ending that friendship.

Before Gianluca's father could reply, Luigi's grandfather, Lorenzo Alessandrini said to Gianluca's grandfather "Gilberto, We both know that is not going to be an issue. Bellagio territory is right next to Kavannagh territory and there have never been any issues at the private Italian school that the Bellagios give financial backing to. The school is right next to the Irish school and there have been no clashes so far as long as no one goes where they are not welcome. Kavannaghs do not break their rules. They shoot trespassers on sight sometimes on their territory before asking questions but they live with their strict principles. Christopher Kavannagh has given amnesty to the Bellagios. They will never go back on that."

Gilberto said "I trust Christopher Kavannagh with his word but I do not think its a good idea to take such a big risk and a defenceless young man goes unprotected to the enemy territory for social purposes. That is what the school is for. Why risk his life?"

Gerrardo said "Father I understand your concerns but we are deflecting from the main issue here. The war with the Irish goes beyond Kavannagh territory. The Irish are adamant to weaken the Italian businesses in any way possible. We must find a way for peace... or fight back."

That changed the direction of the conversation away from Gianluca's friendship with Christian. Gianluca's father knew his son well. He was strong minded and nothing could change his mind. Gianluca's father, Gerrardo Bellagio was not welcoming to the idea of this friendship at first but Gianluca was insistent. Once his father accepted it, no one ever really mentioned it. His father was the head of the family. When he had no objections then no one else objected either because they would have been contradicting Gerrardo Bellagio and no one wanted to be on his wrong side. Making a Bellagio into an enemy was not ideal for anyone.

Lorenzo Alessandrini said "I think we must hold an emergency meeting with our allies and all the Italian crime families at this side of the city. We must come together and devise a plan to act together. We have tried keeping peace. Years ago alot of the violence came from our side and to acknowledge that we did try to be more open to the idea of keeping peace. But the Irish want revenge. They do not give up. We have to protect our families and businesses and be ready for war as Gilberto said."

Lothario Alessandrini said "Father. I agree. A meeting is long overdue. Where is best to hold the meeting? I think we should have a list of demands if such meeting is to take place and check to see what demands do other families have."

The rest of the talk went on about the meeting and possible suggested arrangement. As they were busy talking about the technicalities and giving opinions, Gianluca turned to Luigi "What do you think of Irish-Italian relations?"

Luigi said "I agree that it is starting to approach a point of no return. War. We are ready for it."

Gianluca said " They are ready for war too. They expect it."

Luigi said "That is true. I think nothing good can come out of any war. But either way we are ready. We won't hold back if it comes to it."

****

The six men made their way to the Alessandrini mansion because Lidia Alessandrini had insisted that they have a cup of tea with her home made pastries before they made their way home. Upon their return, the adults went to the living room to catch up. But Luigi and Gianluca went to sit at the porch steps. The kids were not required to be with the adults on this occasion. They could hang out together.

Gianluca and Luigi got on with discussing the football practice sessions at school. Luigi then was called in inside to answer a phone call from one of his friends. Luigi said "This may take a while. You go ahead inside and get yourself some cake or tea maybe". He then left.

Gianluca walked inside the masion and made his way towards the living room, but on his way, his attention was caught by Lena who was sitting alone in a room. He smiled. He watched her as she was sitting down and was carrying out her favourite hobby, embroidery. The TV in the room was on. She was busy watching TV and using her needle, applying the thread carefully to a fabric. She was so skilled with multi tasking. She could do so many things at the same time and do them perfectly. He slowly entered. The TV sound was too loud for her to notice his footsteps. He walked and stood near the sofa with his hands in his pocket as he was watching her work on her hobby craft and watch TV. She was creating a Hibiscus flower, her favourite flower.