New York, New York! Greatest City in the World!!!! My apartment is nothin' too special. My capo set me up in a rent controlled, cause he knew a guy that was datin some girl who's grandpa died but the girl had the contract moved to her name a few years earlier to handle the finances. Anyway it's fine, and I've got a couple loose floorboards I can move to stash some extra nades I brough home after a job. It's just a one bedroom, but I got a few boys to help me load up a massive flat screen into the main room. It almost takes up the whole wall, it's sick!! Great for watching the fights!
I work for the family, so they pay me. [Intimidation, murder, and protection for a mafia crime family] It feels like all my money goes to booze and chicks. Every sunday I'm strapped for cash again, even when Capo gives me a stack on friday. For big things, I just tell Capo what I want. And a while later he calls me to send me to pick it up sometimes with the help of some associates. [Boss withholds some salary from the weekly cash to save up for the big expense.] The best was this awesome TV, it takes up the entire wall.
I failed to protect my charges. The whole family was killed just because they were vampires. I saw them greet the sun as I drove up for my guard shift. I can't save them, or all the other people that will be killed just because they're different or "scary". But I can sure as shit avenge them, by killing those bastards hunting them. How could I not kill while doing this? And I don't see any other way this ends than in my death, unless I just live forever.
[Bruno doesn't care about killing monsters in his way either. If the contract is kill this monster, then that's just another job. The ambition is specifically around avenging monsters killed just because they were monsters. It's the xenophobic killings that he wants to avenge.]
Going out partying with Marcus. It was my first weekend guarding the vamps, and I was on edge all week. Everyone's heard all the stories about vampires, so I was worried they'd go berserk if there was any blood around or the just got hungry or didn't like me or whatever. Marcus was going out though, and the other new guy asked me to go with them as backup. I went and after a bit started partyin too since I wasn't working. Spending that night goin wild with Marcus, I realized he's just a normal guy, it doesn't matter that he's a vampire or anything. He's just a person. That changed my entire view on the vamp family, and I quickly grew to know the people they actually were instead of the monsters I assumed they would be. Now I know all society's "monsters" are actually just people.
Capo Demetri Como is my capo in the family. He pays me, gives me jobs, and generally coordinates most of the stuff going on in my life. He's real busy, so I don't see him or chat too much, but he's real helpful.
Umberto "Bert" Adamo is my best friend. He's another soldier in the family working for Demetri. He got added to guard duty for the vamps a few months after I did, so I introduced him and showed him the ropes. Since then we hit it off, and have asked Demetri to assign us to work together when possible. He's a solid guy, about as big as I am, and incredibly loyal.
Mama Irma Galli is my gramma. She seems to still think I'm 12 and has no clue what I actually do for work. It can be a nice change of pace to visit her and chat and pretend I'm just a stupid kid.
My early life was pretty normal. I grew up in a large Italian family. My mom and dad had some boring office jobs. They'd occasionally point out the building they worked in, but it never seemed that important to me. My extended family was large, but it always felt like they never quite understood me.
I went to a standard public school. If we'd lived somewhere else I woulda played football, but as it was the mafia family immediately pulled me into their orbit as a large intimidating Italian kid. I always fit in there because they wanted me to feel like I was part of the family. After my sophomore year that was basically no question of what I would do with my life. I was clearly going to be an associate with the mafia until I was made, then just work on rising up the ranks. I never really noticed or paid attention to the other kids outside of this circle.
Pfft no, who would actually be in love? What's the point? I dated some in highschool, but I eventually realized you don't actually need to do all that relationship stuff. You can just hook up with random chicks. Now I just go out with Bert and the boys whenever we have a day off. Going to bars and clubs, playin pong, dancing, and trying to hook up.
The longest talk I had with Capo was about this too. He said not to worry about relationships and just live right now. When I pointed out that he was married, he said to wait until I was at least 35 before trying to settle down.
My biggest fears are failing the family and being exiled. I've seen death and been threatened and attacked. I don't fear death. But being cast out of the family and alone with no one is terrifying. I'd still have Mama Irma, but she barely knows how old I am. I don't know where I'd go, or what I'd do without the family to have my back.
Another related fear is that I'm also not sure what would happen to me if I ever got caught by the law and jailed. If the family couldn't get me out of trouble, I'd probably be stuck and cast out, so I couldn't drag anyone else down with me, not that I ever would. I definitely can't be captured by the cops, I'd rather go out in a blaze of glory to live on forever in the stories than quietly rot away in a cell.
[The mafia has purposefully limited Bruno's social circle and experience to only include other members of the mafia. Making their social circles and approval the only worthwhile social experiences for him. He's been fully pyschologically manipulated into counting the family as the sole source of meaning and validation in his life.]
My massive flat screen TV. Because it's awesome and fucking huge! It was also a blast trying to get it up the stairs and into the apartment. I don't know how we actually managed any of it, but Bert, me, and a few other random associates carried this thing up 8 flights of stairs then wedged it through all the building doorways. I don't even know how that's possible since I think it's taller than the door. Maybe Capo got me a magic TV, but it fit somehow and still fills up the entire wall of my apartment. Bert and I yelled at those fuckin associates all afternoon to not damage the TV, then when we finally got it up and mounted we pretended we were kicking them out before we could watch anything on it, just to mess with them.
It's also wild that I just have grenades and C4, but I haven't ever actually had to use them.
My biggest problem right now is that I don't have someone to give me a good direction. I know what I want to do. Kill asshole monster hunters that murder people because they're "monsters". What I don't know is how to find them and more importantly hunt them down without leaving a trail or being caught. I can handle everything in the moment. My problem is the planning and setup and prep work before hand. I should probably work with capo more to see if he'll help me with this. Hopefully he'll just take over doing this work for me, but I guess he could teach me how to do it. I really don't want to have to learn more shit. It's so hard to figure new shit out. I guess I just need to check with capo to make sure I use the police database correctly without messing anything up.
First off, I sleep in as long as I can. Usually until 11 if capo didn't tell me to get up early. I usually have pretty late nights out partying with the boys, so I got into the habit of downing loads of water in the morning to get rid of the hangovers. When I wake up, I start drinking lots of fluids and prep a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, and bacon. Then I get dressed in workout gear, and head to the gym for a morning workout. Afterwards I make a protein shake and bring it into the shower to prep for work after working out. Out of the shower, I get dressed in my standard polo and khakis for the day. I'll head out to work or the MMA gym with my bag, and grab a breakfast sandwich or bagel on the way out to eat on the subway.
I would absolutely get a new suit tailored. I can't really go to a normal store to get a suit. Nothing they have fits me right. After the tailor I would have probably slowed down on my MMA workouts and sparring, but I guess now that's not really a problem either. I can fix any injuries I get as soon as I want. I would pick a classic black suit with some dark red accents. I've been practicing on disguising my lashing veins as a fancy GenWyld belt, so having the tailor highlight and or just deal with that would be key. Depending on where the event is I would also want an extra pocket or two for flasks. A buddy told me one of the fancy parties he snuck into was watering down their drinks, so none of the wealthy snobs would "make a seen". I don't need to spend forever getting ready. Just put the suit on and go.
Oh damn it will be massive. The boys are gonna take me to Vegas for the whole weekend. They said we could go the entire weekend without sleeping. Casinos for the afternoon and free pre gaming. Then head to the clubs all night. In the morning, get the most massive brunch, then go out to drive monster trucks. And repeat until we're all broke or the weekend is over. I don't know if we'll need to change any plans since these new jobs seem to be ramping up, but for now that's the plan. And it will be fucking awesome.
My greatest regret is not being able to save the vamps. I know it was not my fault. I know I probably couldn't have actually made a difference when the house was stormed. I still feel terrible every time I remember how they burnt to ash in the sun. That's why I decided to avenge them. Mike wants to protect and prevent, but I have already seen what happens when that fails. I have lived through it. It's terrible. I won't do it again. I can't save people. I certainly can't save everyone or the people I care about. I can certainly hunt people down though. So yeah, my greatest regret is not being able to save them, and that that taught me the pointlessness of trying to save others. I wish I could still believe that protecting others was worthwhile. There's no way to be everywhere at once though, so someone can sneak through.