Chapter Text
“Hey boss, I found another case”
Elizabeth sighed. No matter how hard she worked, trying to expose Juliano’s secret “brothel” felt like trying to catch smoke with her hands.
“Just put it with the others”
Her lieutenant nodded and put the folder on the never-ending pile, the loud thump causing Elizabeth’s heart to sink even further.
How much longer could this go on for?
Deep down, Elizabeth knew her work was doing little to improve things. No matter how many girls she tried to save, the list just kept piling up.
Exhausted, she lit a cigarette but didn’t inhale, the smoke trailing of the tip as she sat there deep in thought.
“Why don’t you just let it go?” Her oldest brother, Rafael, had asked her: “It’s not like it’s affecting you?”
To this she shot him a glare and stalked off, infuriated by how clueless her brother could be.
But as she lay in bed that night, her mind couldn’t help but drift back to their conversation. After all, he wasn’t exactly wrong; Francesco Juliano’s hobbies didn’t affect her in the slightest. It had nothing to do with her in fact. But then why couldn’t she just let it go?
Your guilty
She told herself.
Your guilty that women like you are treated like slaves whilst you sit comfortably, able to do something but instead do nothing.
“No, not like me”
She reminded herself.
No one was quite like Elizabeth. But still, pretty young girls with dreams too big for a city like New York. Matched the description pretty well.
Elizabeth rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. Realising she wasn’t getting work done anytime soon, she rang the only person she knew could take her mind off things.
The loud music of the diner did little to distract Elizabeth as her thoughts swivelled around her brain, a thousand possibilities stretching out before her.
Leone, the second brother, sat across from her, his eyes full of concern.
“Drink up Lizzy, you’ve been staring at your glass for the past 20 minutes”.
She sighed before sitting up, knowing what she was about to say will not go down well with her brother.
“I want to go after Juliano”
The reaction was almost immediate. Leone choked on his drink, coughing violently whilst his sister sat across from him, waiting impatiently for his fit to end.
“Now I know what you’re about to say-”
“Have you lost your mind!”
“Okay not really what I was expecting you to say-”
“Lizzy you don’t-”
He glanced around suddenly, before lowering his voice.
“Liz you can’t go after fucking Juliano-”
“But-”
“No I’m serious!” He looked around again, as if a spy was about to appear any moment “Look have a drink already, you’re not thinking clearly-”
She banged her fist on the table, her cold eyes piercing her brother’s skin.
“Leone just listen to me!”
He shrugged and folded his arms, staring at Elizabeth as if she was going insane. She took a deep breathe, trying to settle her nerves, and sat upright.
“I know who he is and I know what he can do alright? But that can’t excuse what’s happening to these girls! There must be something we can do?” She pleaded.
But Leone only shook his head. “Lizzy you don’t fuck with Francesco Juliano”.
“Why!”
“Why? Oh well let’s think, he’s got a great smile, nice suit oh and he’s the head of the biggest fucking crime family in fucking New York!”
For a few seconds they just glared at each other, arms both folded whilst Elizabeth pursed her lips angrily, looking for a fight, looking for any reason to take her anger out on anyone after months of hard work, hard work which accomplished nothing!
But Leone just sighed and slumped slightly. “Why do you care so much about this Liz?”
Elizabeth stared at him, searching for sign of mocking or annoyance on her brother’s face. But instead, she was only met with more concern. She gazed down, suddenly unable to look him in the eye.
“Why do I care? Well they’re like me”
“No Liz they’re not”
“Well they’re close enough and anyway they deserve better”
“Says who?”
“Says that girl who came to me asking for help”
“Who the reporter? Why not send her to the police”
“The police are useless they refused to help her”
“Still doesn’t explain why this matters to you so much?”
“I don’t know”
“Well they’re must be something! Why Elizabeth! Why!”
“Liz?”
She snapped back into focus, her thoughts drifting away from her.
“Well I…” She trailed off, suddenly unsure.
Come on Elizabeth just think!
“Look I never did as much for this family as you did. Or Rafael. Or Carlos. So when that reporter came to me asking for help with her case, she gave me something I never realised I needed…” She mumbled.
“And what’s that?” He asked her softly.
She thought of telling him the truth, the words forming on her lips. But instead, she just shrugged and looked up at him.
“A sense of usefulness I guess"
He sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes before signalling the waitress for the bill. Elizabeth took that as a sign the conversation was over and slumped against her chair, knowing she just blew her only chance of getting the help she needed. Struggling to keep a straight face, she got up to get her coat.
Just as she got to the door however, Leone stopped her, a conflicted expression lingering on his face.
“Look I’ll talk to Rafael okay, he makes the big decisions, but I can’t promise anything.”
“Leone I-”
“No promises Liz”
She nodded and walked off but not before she turned back to her brother.
“Thank you.” She called out softly.
“Yeah yeah” He walked off, muttering something about her getting them all killed.
Elizabeth grinned and walked the opposite direction to her car, her driver waiting patiently.
She was one step closer to getting the justice the girls at the sparrow club deserved.
And one step closer to killing Francesco Juliano.