he was called in early morning and he has a strange feeling about what was bound to happen. it wasn't every day that his father wanted an important couple of minutes with his son, when most of the time he's let him do whatever on his own. he was thirty three, pretty involved with the cartel, basically the boss, but not just yet, because everyone knew he wasn't entitled to really making a lethal decision. that's what his father was there for. "son, your mother's wanted me to do this for ages now, but i like my people to much to do it. but anyway, i feel like i'm ready, and i think you are too. you know, to take over this, to … to finally to what you're supposed to as an oliveira," his words hit him. his father was barely forty … or … well, no maybe he was fifty five, but still, he was in good shape and everyone respected him, everyone answered to him, everyone called him a don, and he clearly couldn't see himself in that position. so responsible and firm, so brutal. alright, he could be brutal, he's done things he wasn't proud of before, but was he responsible enough? he had a hard time committing to one woman for christ's sake.

"are you sure, dad?" was the first time he's called him that since back in the day when they were all in brazil. he was a scrawny little fellow, proud of his father doing shit for another crime family in rio, happy with his own, but fucking reckless. so yes, he had a fucking hard time getting this, now. did his father really think he was in fact ready to take over something that was so important to him? "bare exposure's been in your domain for quite some time now, i think you're ready. plus, if you're serious about marrying her … well, she should be marrying a don, not someone third." and he knew too well what he was on about. it's not that he didn't approve of his fiancee, he just thought it would be easier to marry someone with brazilian ancestry. "and i trust you. i trust you with paloma, you can handle her way better than i can." he actually could, although she was doing his head in most of the time, but they were good. he wanted her safe, he wanted her to have a good life.

it's been a year. a year of him ruling the cartel and he turned to be a completely different person, with a new mindset, a new outlook, a new soul. he breathed for it, he wanted to make his father proud, yet there were still things he missed while trying to accomplish something big. life was made of little things and as much of life he's had and seen, he underestimated the power of love.