WHO: Lucia and Lulu WHAT: It's time to tell Lulu the truth WHERE: Starts @ The Law Office... WHEN: Thursday, Lulu's lunch time STATUS: COMPLETE RATING: PG-13?
Being the woman behind the man was usually at least as challenging as being the man himself. Lucia Jacaruso Morelli seemed to have been custom-tailored for this, though. It was likely because she was a woman capable of being nearly as brutal and calculating as her Nio. From time to time, Lucia had even managed to surprise those who knew her best when months of quiet plotting came to fruition. Today would be one of those days.
It had begun nearly a year ago, when paging through an uncle's personal effects with his widow and her children. While her father's family had deep New York roots, her mother had spent her childhood in Chicago and many of the Valentino's still resided here. It had been then that she had discovered journals nearly 30 years old detailing one of her cousin's indiscretions. Further research had had to be quiet out of respect for the man. Whether or not Lucia agreed with his willingness to run from his responsibility, it was not her place to thrust it upon him now.
The sniffing had led her to one Lucrezia. A woman of the right age who resided in the Russian part of town, but worked for the Italians. Intelligent, self-sufficient, and with the strong features that Lucia's maternal grandmother seemed to pass on to anyone woman who carried her genes. There had been only the choice to watch from a distance, until now. With things the way they were, it was only a matter of time until they became too dangerous to do this. For the young woman's own safety, it was time for her to come home.
There would never be a good time to reveal this information, but there were a limited number of ways for Lucia to meet the young woman. A friend had been paid to place a call for a consultation to Bene, to ensure he would be occupied when Lucia showed up to ask her husband's cousin to lunch. She arrived, dressed to the nines as always, and paused in front of the desk, grinning down at the young woman sitting behind it. She pulled her gloves off one finger at a time as she spoke.