2/2

Renato rolled his eyes at her but gave a little mocking bow as he clicked the hammer of his gun back with one thumb. "Only if you call me by my first name, little lady Sonya."

"Renato Sinclair, do go away."

"Cheater."

Sonya gave him a pointed look that questioned if he had looked in the mirror lately.

He merely smirked in return as he sauntered off.

LXXV (Saturday the 16th of May, 1964. Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)

With Sonya's terribly timed crush on Arseniy still reeling its unsightly head every time she saw the vor, she got back into the habit she had long since gotten out of.

A Classic Cloud's patrolling.

It had been something she had started back when she had been even tinier, not that she knew it for what it was then so thus she made excuses for it rather than hide in a room or something. Even after losing what could have become her 'home territory' had she stayed in Saratov, she kept it up in Moscow until shortly after Cherep moved into their home.

If she had been doing Cloud patrolling after being fostered in a Mafiya home because of unease, habit, or because she had instinctively tried to understand the new situation before different but unconsciously more dominant Clouds impressed on her it was their territory was debatable. The fact any impulse to continue stopped after she and her fellow Cloud decided they were friends and he moved into the bedroom next to hers was slightly troubling for Sonya's desire not to see her best friend as 'territory'.

Since she was so out of practice at it, it could really be called 'free-ranging' more than patrolling.

There were different things to see than she recalled; new park benches in a few areas, several different shops that opened or were about to close here and there, and the always different people out and about now spring was trying to thaw the city were also things she noted in an absent kind of way.

Hopefully, her patrolling habit would fix the couple holes she had in her mental map of Moscow's Zolotov territory. Maybe that way Cherep would stop being so smug every time he had to get them back home after a walk to different circuses or cinemas.

Her walkabouts were also great times to ponder things, especially as she had stopped trying to meditate out of sheer disgust for her inability. Mostly, how the hell she was going to raise legal money in case her foster brother was right on his guess of her Storm polarization.

Sonya was still drawing a blank on that one, and she'd been wondering that over in her head ever since the bet started.

She stuck a leg out almost on automatic, tripping a cutpurse that tried to snatch the bag of the stooped over old lady not five feet in front of her. Snatching the purse out of the air, she absently handed it back to the startled woman ahead of her just as she opened her mouth to yell before hauling the thief up by the back of his collar.

Which is when her mind caught up to her actions.

"Adrik?"

"Wha-Sonya?"

She took an entirely inappropriate moment to wonder if he had been initially sorted like her, a petty thief, only to find his real talent lay elsewhere in a thieves' array of skills.

A cutpurse turned security system specialist?

Not as farfetched as a pickpocket doing solo cat burglary.

Then she pushed him behind her slightly, so he wasn't gaping at her in full view of his botched-victim. Sonya turned an entirely sheepish and apologetic smile on the old woman suspiciously eyeing them both. "Excuse us, baba. I need to go yell at my friend a bit."

She sniffed at both the boy still dangling from her one-handed hold on him and the insulting term. The thief slowly lowered the other, so his shoes at least touched the ground before the old biddy noticed.

"Blister his ears, devochka."

"Oh, I will. I can promise you that."

It did not pay to rob people who couldn't afford it. She knew that a long time ago when she had just been lifting pockets for cash and not doing businesses and shops. Adrik had to know it too, but here he was doing it anyways.

He waited until the little stooped old lady at least got a decent amount of distance from them. "Your hypocrisy is astounding."

She lifted him back off the ground, so he was at least a couple good inches off the sidewalk, and about bit his nose off. "You and I are going to talk."

LXXVI (Saturday the 16th of May, 1964 continued. Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)

Since Adrik was one of Tatiana's minions, Sonya dragged the cutpurse home with her.

In silence, too. Partially because she was very irritated with him, and partially because she wanted to be sure of her own mental state over his thieving habits.

It wasn't because he was stealing in home territory, it was because he was robbing old ladies.

Right?

She had difficulties trying to decide, so that was why they were going to her sister over it all. If it was her Cloud nature getting prissy, the Sun would have no problem telling her so and taking her to task for it.

Thankfully for her mental debate, her foster sister hadn't been amused to hear of Adrik's actions either.

"They have networked gossip circles! Why would you do that?" The teenage redhead, fifteen in age and a pretty decent Classic Sun Flame user if she had a gem in hand, gripped her long hair in both hands and wailed. "Once one of those old babas sees your face, they all will know! What they know their children know! Then everyone in the neighborhood knows! You might as well shoot yourself in the foot!"

Adrik's expression got progressively sulkier as Sonya's sister carried on berating him.

The blonde thief herself was just happy she hadn't been overreacting. That would have been rather embarrassing.

Tatiana eventually realized she was getting a bit too carried away and took a deep breath to try calming herself down. Passionate Suns, indeed. "Adrik, why?"

"There's rumors of a personal computer that might coming up for sale next year." Still sulky sounding, but at least it was a reason Sonya could sort of understand. "I wanted to be sure I could afford it and my dues, since we're only doing minor things until I'm old enough to leave Moscow."

He was about the same age as Cherep… which sounded about right. Sometime next year Tatiana would be leaving home for a different city, and maybe the year after the USSR itself for the surrounding countries.

She frowned thoughtfully as the Sun rubbed her face, all the while the cutpurse expanded on what he thought a 'computer' might be good for and why he couldn't ask the group since he wasn't sure on that yet.

Weren't the first computer designs clunky things?

Sonya didn't really know how the computer age started, but she knew a lot of people were involved. Different people and companies involved across the world meant more options, sure. It also meant they wouldn't work together well for a bit longer.

Compatibility, that was the word. Different computer systems wouldn't be very compatible for… ever, really. Apple versus PC issue from Rachel's life all in one word there.

"Adrik, you work for a thief who has a very good cat burglar as a sister." Said cat burglar tuned back into the scolding session when she was mentioned. Tatiana was even helpfully pointing at her too. "If it's that important to you to figure out, we can hire Sonya to steal one for you."

They could?

"We can?" Adrik put aside the fact he had been getting yelled at quickly to peer at the youngest thief in the room.

The Storm-Cloud supposed they could, just like how she had hired Tatiana's group for her last jewelry heist. It wasn't of the level of the favor she had done for her foster sister, being involved in a high-profile job like that boosted Tatiana's group's reputation rather high after they succeeded.

They would be considered less 'green' after a heist like that under their belts, and therefore more reliable for anyone looking for a group to do something similar.

On the other hand, if Sonya did then other thieves might want to hire her for a little aid or a job too. If she turned down too many, they would try to get Tatiana to ask her to do it instead.

Thus, why she didn't actually do any other thieves a job or two for favors or trades. The only one she ever made an exception for had been Dmitriy, and that had been because she could hold it over his head for a bit and everyone knew she made him pay through the nose for it.

"We're going to owe her a lot for doing it even after the favor from before, but yes." The Sun user gave a pointed look at her little sister.

Said little sister realized she was required to speak up. "…sure."

Adrik seemed to shrug off the whole incident that led to the conversation, lighting up like a Christmas tree. There was still an element of wariness to him, but since the physically younger girl had held him off the ground for at least an hour of travel or so she supposed she deserved that. "What are your terms, then?"

In other words, money or favors?

"A favor. I'll steal a computer for you, when they become popular enough to spread to the commercial side of the market, so long as you teach me to work one." She wasn't looking forward to that job, clunky computer equipment was probably fragile enough to make everything tricky.

The cutpurse had the whole geek look working for him anyways. She could easily see him being a hardcore gamer type like from Rachel's schooling years.

…what exactly would be the mafia's answer to the advent of the computer age, anyways?

"After a period of six months, so I know the thing, I'll do the teaching… so long as a better model doesn't come up."

That might be complicated. The blonde had known the other thief was sly from before, but that could potentially trip her up into stealing him a new computer every damn year if she wasn't careful.

From what she knew, competing companies would put out different models every now and again just to keep up with the fast-developing technology and each other.

"Four months, and perceivably better as in works faster than just more expensive."

"Three if you can get me everything I would need to operate one."

"Except for the power supply, I'd assume."

Adrik had the cheek to look amused at that. "Of course."

The cat bulger nodded her agreement. "Deal."

They shook on it.

She wouldn't be at risk with a deal like this until the Silicon Valley thing happened back in the States. Sonya might not recall clearly what happened, but she knew the computer industry boomed both during and after that to result in Rachel's old desktop.

Tatiana clapped her hands together, beaming. "So! Now, let's talk about robbing old babas we live next to."

It was an evil beaming smile for an expression on a Classical Sun user.

The cutpurse wilted a bit, his excitement over haggling the deal out fading rapidly in the face of his leader's attention turning back on his especially crooked misdeeds.

She decided to excuse herself, as she wasn't really part of Tatiana's group or under her influence. She reasoned that since the Sun had everything in hand and was a bit busy, and Adrik might not appreciate her listening in as he got yelled at, Tatiana wouldn't mind too much.

She wasn't running from her sister, really. It was called a tactical retreat.

Suns could burn away Clouds, too.

Now, had the situation been her Cloud nature getting pissed with the theft happening in home territory or not?

Sonya still didn't know for certain. While Tatiana didn't seem to think she was out of line, it was possible it was just the stealing and not the baba bit.

…shit.

What kind of thief collars other thieves working in front of them?

Not very popular ones… or dead ones. She needed to get both a clear answer and a handle on that problem fast.

LXXVII (Tuesday the 19th of May, 1964. Arseniy & Lisa's home, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)

Sonya wondered absently if Tatiana's group started because Nikolai was a bit of a beefcake.

The elder foster sister did start piecing her group together just after her crush on Dmitriy ended a swift death due to his grimy career putting her off him.

…she really did need to iron out her head, or something.

It was a wonder that stuck with her after Adrik had crashed a lunchtime of Lisa's, bringing everything he knew on the supposedly newfangled 'computers' with him and the other co-leader of his gang.

Nikolai had just wanted to get briefed on what the deal was and what they now owed Sonya, so while Tatiana had a conference with him Adrik nattered her ear off about a lot of things she couldn't recall.

She might have tuned him out in pure self-defense.

With her somewhat unorthodox background she knew the difference between a microprocessor, which was the latest gadget 'revolutionizing' computers AKA clunky calculators everywhere, and a motherboard, which was where said microprocessor was located. It was rather hard to profess any interest in the topic when Rachel's memories of laptops and sleek desktop computers looked nothing like what was currently on the market.

What she did now know that had been important from the geek-babble heaped on her poor ears, was that the best European 'computer' company was in Italy.

Olivetti was the name, and they were known for manufacturing typewriters and the like and had recently announced to certain circles the possible commercial production of the 'Programma 101'.

Which really was an overly glorified desktop calculator compared to what Sonya thought of when the word computer was mentioned.

Worst of all, it was entirely likely the company had connections to Vongola's CEDEF… or if it didn't yet, it might just end up a real part of the shell company that covers the greater Italian mafia Famiglia in the country when the personal computer thing took off. If she was a Don of a crime family, holding onto an up and coming security nightmare like computerized networks would be something she'd want a finger in.

She just did not want to go to Italy. She'd been learning Italian lately, sure. Mostly just because of Sinclair and the fact it might be useful much later when Cherep had an encounter of the cursed baby kind and if she couldn't do anything about it.

She'd be learning Japanese next for the same reason, even if she already knew Mandarin Chinese and that typically worked for most Asian countries.

However, she had made the deal… backing out because of personal wants would be rather bad for her reputation.

"I have a… associate, who I don't really trust but might help." The Storm-Cloud informed Adrik slowly when he paused for breath, turning the problems over in her head. "If the company does have mafia connections, I'm not stealing from them and risking my neck for something I can get easier in America for less risk. IBM does the computers for the US Space Program, and I'm sure one of theirs is just as good."

The cutpurse pouted, which still worked for him even if he was the same age as Cherep and getting out of the 'boyish good looks' category.

It was cute, but Sonya was unmoved.

Wet-kitty pouts were harder to ignore.

"But it's a European company. On the cutting-edge, too!"

She had to control the desire to snort, coughing a little into one hand instead. Cutting-edge for the 1960s maybe, not to her. "Look, the production estimates aren't even set in stone yet. It might not be next year or even the year after when they finally start selling the damn things. Even then, the first model off the production line isn't the best in terms of being debugged."

"De-bug-ed what?"

Damn it all, that was why Sonya talked like an old lady. She had slang and terms that wouldn't be used for decades in her speech pattern that occasionally popped out like that.

The youngest thief sighed and rephrased her point. "It won't be working perfectly, as in there might be problems with the manufacturing that won't show up until well after someone else boots-I mean, turns it on."

"Good point, I guess." Adrik looked as if she had gutted his hopes and dreams with her nay-saying.

Again, Cherep's tries to wring her heartstrings was better quality.

She damn well didn't want to go to Italy, so too bad.

LXXVIII (Friday the 7th of August, 1964. Arseniy & Lisa's home, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.)

"What the hell qualifies as 'legal'?"

Cherep blinked blankly at his best friend standing in his bedroom's doorway, who looked more than a little irritable over something. Probably her question continuing to be unanswered. "Uh… what?"

Eloquence, thy name was not Cherep.

"You said I had to acquire money legally, so what do you define legal as?" Sonya repeated a bit more slowly, kicking an old shirt he had been using as a rag away from her foot. At his continued blank look, she scowled and tacked on, "For the bet, you dork."

"Which bet?"

"Our bet, over my Storm polarization."

Now she sounded as if she found him a little slow. Which, to be fair, Cherep felt because that was a good point.

He never did clarify that, did he?

She had merely rejected the buying a motorcycle legally bit, not the getting money for it legally part.

The 'secret' Cloud Flame user in the household kicked out his legs, which had been cramping a little as he crouched to check the movements of the engine block that was this year's birthday gift from Dmitriy, as he thought about it. The engine was damaged and inoperable, but still serviceable as a learning tool if probably a little too low to the floor for him now.

The getting tall thing couldn't happen fast enough. Even Sonya seemed to agree, if she had once shot down his initial plans of getting a motorcycle based on his shrimp-sized height as a kid but was putting effort into it now.

Did that mean he was about tall enough for one?

Right, her current question. "Um… with a job?"

His fellow Cloud, and that was awesome they shared something as rare and as random as that Dying Will stuff, gave him a flat stare which made him a bit nervous. "In my line of work a heist is also called doing a job, genius. You really want to go with that definition?"

Cherep coughed, sheepishly grinning back at her. "Well… no. That would defeat the point."

His crooked best friend heaved a sigh at him, picking her way around his engine so she could crawl up on his bed and sprawl out while he thought.

He knew she knew what he was up to trying to get her to have a legal job, but the fact she hadn't immediately rejected the legal part gave him some hope Sonya wouldn't just be a thief for the rest of her life. It could be just that she was humoring him too, which was kind of awesome in its own way because she was still thinking of doing it just because he said something.

She hadn't tried to convince him to try for a less dangerous job herself when he made mention of his plans, just pointed out that a few different skills might help and where he could go to gain them. She did sigh exasperatedly over him and his plans to start with a circus stuntman job, but she'd be coming with him.

The least Cherep could do was return the favor of pointing out different things that might help her in the future, yes a day-job was a bit transparent but she might want a working cover a time or two so trying it out now might help, but as he'd learned in his years living in a Mafiya home… one's words didn't always mesh up to what one meant.

He'd also gotten over his instinctive flinch when something less than legal was afoot. Both his foster sisters tended to forget he wasn't just another thief when he was in the room and they started talking shop.

Which was another strange but awesome thing in a twisted Mafiya way.

Acceptance like that had been rather rare in his life up until then. It was more of the girls thinking of him as 'one of us' rather than 'that boy that lives with us but isn't one of us' they used to do thing. The lunch they had earlier was a key point for that fact.

He was pretty sure they both forgot he wasn't a crook in the weirdly working lunch thing they did with the other two boys that came by, who were apparently Tatiana's thieves and not just fellow thieves in general.

It had been cool to hear Sonya argue out of hurrying off to steal something right away.

Cherep was also rather sure they forgot he had been there, which might be part of that too.

They were used to him, of him being around. Again, awesome.

…he had some low standards, didn't he?

"For fuck's sake, Cherep. If you don't decide sometime today, I'm going to."

"I'm thinking."

"Think faster."

For a girl who probably had her brain plotted out in a book or five, which might now be part of the mass of paper that insulated the ceiling from the roof right now, his baby sister could be very impatient about getting the information she wanted.

He huffed an amused laugh and turned his wandering attention to the definition she wanted out of him.

Legal had seemed like a good word at the time. However, depending on how rigidly he set the limits Sonya could probably stall a whole lot. Under-aged workers were technically illegal, in a way.

Her fourteenth birthday was coming up next. If one couldn't get a legal job before sixteen, though probably more like eighteen, then it would be another two years before the bet would be solved in that direction.

Even if Cherep won it.

It was entirely possible he might lose it too. One in three chance to be right, otherwise he'd have to steal something for her… or was it in front of?

"Legally acquired wages, either from a job done for nothing against the law or by selling something you made yourself."

That about covered it, right?

"…this selling option. If the components are stolen before being assembled then sold as honestly as… uh, I can, does it count as legal?"

He swore she was now just questioning things to annoy him. "No."

Sonya rolled around his bed, so she could look at him fully. "If I use money I got illegally to buy the components legally, then sell it. Is that legal?"

Definitely doing it just to annoy him. "Where are you going with this?"

"Lisa got me that amateur jeweler's kit, but I swear to high hell… if I actually have to use that…"

"Yes. Yes, you do."

He probably deserved the smack to the back of his head for that one.

LXXIX (Thursday the 3rd of December, 1964. Mafia Land.)

Of course, Sinclair wouldn't be anywhere near Mafia Land the one time Sonya actually was looking for him.

One of these days, she'd get to have a word with whoever was in charge of her luck. Destiny too, whichever prick oversaw that was going to have their head meet a wall courtesy of her Bec de Corbin's hammer end.

Well… one of the weapons' end that she had, anyways.

Her search had turned up some information on the man, teenager technically at the time but a nineteen-year-old was more a young man than a teen. Renato Sinclair was a flirt of the shameless degree, tended to drink expensive wines but indulged in whisky now and again, bought bullets by the crate, and probably one of the most charming bastards to grace the island.

According to rumor, anyways.

Which, after a couple years of infrequent meetings twice a year with him, she had known already.

Hitmen weren't nearly as numerous as thieves were in Mafia Land's contract work sector, so they tended to rake up the most gossip anyways.

The day she had first met Sinclair, she had been told most of what made up his character nearly the same hour she got away from the man.

Mostly by semi-concerned thieves, most of whom were really after what she had that Renato had been interested in. A couple different hitmen had tried to chat her up to see what as well.

Which had been the other reason she had accepted the second offer of coffee from the man, just so she could take some of the irritation she had with him out on the subject of that ire.

After one full day of looking for the Inverted Sun hitman, the Russian Storm-Cloud gave up and went to pull the last contracted job she would do for the year. She'd find him when she got back, or he'd hear about her looking for him and find her himself.

As it turned out, after one rather weird job involving a jeweled dog statute of all things, Sonya found Sinclair.

Rather, he found her on his apartment building's front step.

"You are a tricky bastard to find, you know."

"Should I be concerned?" Drawled out the Sun while eyeing her warily, tucking away the surprise easily. Had she not known him somewhat, she would've missed it. "Usually I've stood a lady up on some occasion before they try to corner me, but I didn't think we had a standing date."

She rolled her eyes at his paranoia. "I want to ask you about a possible business I might have in Italy, you peacock."

"Peacock is a new pet name I've not been called yet." The tensed line of his shoulders broke though, and his left hand finally stopped trying to covertly inch to where she knew he kept a gun. Pushing a hand through his unruly black hair, he glanced from her to his apartment building. "I thought you didn't live on the island?"

"I do not."

Renato shot her a withering look for her tone. "How did you know where I live, then?"

"Thieves are good at finding a target's address too. Sometimes I have to just to know where the item that I am supposed to steal is." The thief waved a hand at the block of living quarters, which was another whole section of the island set smack dab in the middle of it at the base of the mountain they had. "This is not exactly employee only either."

"Point."

She sighed through her nose when he still hesitated. "I will buy you breakfast if you help me figure out if the Olivetti company is or is not involved with the mafia of your home country."

"The manufacturing company for calculators and the like?" Renato looked absolutely confused at her interest. "What could you be stealing from there?"

Sonya arched a challenging eyebrow at him. "Is that a yes?"

"Are you going to tell me why?"

"Only if you do help at all."

He rolled that around in his head for another moment, and she was sure he was doing so just to be difficult.

How hard would it be to bribe the same information out of another Italian on the island?

"Breakfast it is then. I feel like eating French today."

If she didn't know better, she'd swear the ass had read her mind and knew the exact moment she started thinking of bribing someone else. As her only Italian contact, or rather her only contact period, he really should be given the option of taking whatever bribe she had for information first. Hence why she was on the steps of his apartment building asking, but there were limits on the level of preference certain acquaintances got.

"I suppose you know of a good place around here that serves French cuisine?"

"Why of course, Sonya."

LXXX (Thursday the 3rd of December, 1964 continued. Mafia Land.)

"Didn't get anything from the Thieves' Hall information broker, then?"

"Of course not. It was the first place I checked." Sonya informed him tartly, waving off the waiter that was hovering around her because she had abstained from ordering anything other than tea.

He shouldn't be as concerned as he was, she paid the damn bill.

"I would not be doing this if the information was so easily had."

Earl Grey this time, they didn't have Russian Black.

Renato twitched a little uneasily when the waiter she dismissed leaned a bit too far over into his personal space to pick up his empty plate, narrowly eyeing the poor, shaking young man and closely inspecting every movement he made. She wondered if he was thinking about shooting the kid, who looked terribly green and jumpy to be a seasoned staff member of a restaurant that catered to mafia hitmen and the like.

She did fully realize the irony of that statement coming from her. As a thief that started at the physical age of nine and was weeks away from her fourteenth birthday, she looked greener than the waiter did. However, after coming to terms with the irony of once dying by a crook and now living as one, she rather easily brushed that off.

"As far as I know, Olivetti is clean of any underworld dealings. My information is a little out of date, since I'm not from the region and don't keep tabs on it since it wasn't." Sinclair informed her easily enough now that he was fed, a slightly dismal look given to the French press brewed coffee he had been forced to order when he learned the espresso machine that was here was down for maintenance. "I could go and double-check for you, Sonya, if you tell me why you want to know."

Decisions, decisions.

She could, but that would probably devolve in a fishing expedition on her foster family that she didn't really want to let him know about if she didn't have to.

Hitmen generally worked on finding people with less to go on when they did a hit, she wouldn't fool herself into thinking he would never have a reason to go after her or her misfit family.

Renato Sinclair was perfectly charming to her in a bastardy kind of way, but it really was a rather superficial relationship between them at heart.

If she wanted to forget that, the fact he nearly shot her this morning when she turned up somewhere he didn't expect rather dispelled the illusion.

The Russian was the one taking a chance on him, in asking him for help like this.

"I do not wish to step on the toes of any mafia family there, as I would be a freelance thief on this job and have no help if I do."

If he didn't want the obvious reasoning, he should ask more accurate questions.

She wouldn't be aligned to anyone for the act of doing the favor because it was an internal Zolotov thing, more specifically a favor between herself and Tatiana's group as individuals and not as Mafiya thieves. Not a clan job nor a Mafia Land one, both of which came with their own protections for doing heists or jobs against different mafia factions she was abstaining from to spare Adrik the cost of hiring her through the clan's internal channels or through the island's services.

Renato's mildly annoyed expression was amusing too. He'd trapped himself though, so if he wanted their association to continue at a decent level he had to go and check for her because she did answer him.

Sonya sipped her tea and waited for his next verbal thrust.

"I suppose you would include the upper management positions and their backgrounds as part of that?"

Now he was just splitting hairs even if it was a good point, as what the company and what it's CEOs do could be perfectly different in many ways.

Since he was doing the favor, she did have to give him that one for this to continue. "Not necessarily. Those are two different things on occasion."

"There will be a number of people to go through and find information on." The Sun using hitman informed her lazily, leaning back in his chair and probably very carefully deciding how to phrase the rest of his side of the conversation.

"Just the three top members, I think."

"Six in return?"

"Two. I am not asking for their life stories nor do I want to learn of it. Just if they are mafia related or not." He would be the type to go overboard and drown her in information if she annoyed him a touch too much.

He cocked his head to the side. "I can live with two."

Tatiana had better love her for this. She owed two favors to a damn Italian Mafioso.

Sonya didn't like owing people favors. There was a world of things one could do with a perfectly willing accomplice skilled in different areas, and there were another countless ways to entrap them into service using said favors for leverage.

She had gone almost five years only owing two people a favor in her Mafiya career, Dimitriy and Cherep. She managed to get the young mechanic to cancel out his, and she didn't mind owing her best friend one because he would just use it on silly things like follow him when she had already intended to.

Renato Sinclair was a different breed of beast than her fellow Mafiya brats. He'd either use his two favors to know whatever it was he wanted to know or use one for his question and hold the last in reserve for a rainy day.

Sonya rather suspected the latter, but the security would maybe be worth it on this job. She didn't know the region, or how the mafia worked in Italy, and had no way to get that information from anyone since this was an internal favor-type thing instead of an actual contract.

Mafia Land would've sent agents out to give her a few pages briefing her on what not to do and how to not offend, the Zolotovs would've sent her a vor or two for protection, but on her own?

Contracting those agents herself would be more expensive than she could afford for something she wasn't sure when it would be possible to steal her target, hiring the vory herself would invite the rumors and speculation about how to hire her she didn't want to start.

Again, it was subjective when she could complete this little favor.

As a native of the country, the hitman did know what she needed to keep safe in his homeland for a stretch of time and how to not piss anyone off enough to come after her.

"I think, since we are going to be working together, you should at least address me by my first name."

Thus, why she had tried to look elsewhere before defaulting to asking the Inverted Sun user. He could be such an asshole sometimes. "Very well... Renato."

Renato's smirk could practically radiate his smugness all the way over to her side of the table. "This isn't time sensitive, is it?"

"A year or so before I would desperately need the information."

"I'll have the information before your usual time to visit next year, then."

Sonya nodded her thanks, getting up to leave with a rather unsettling feeling of foreboding hanging over her.

Why did it feel like she just sold her soul to the devil?

…shit. That arrangement wasn't self-updating if this favor for Tatiana's Adrik took more than a year or two to do.

The young thief hesitated… but kept heading for the door anyways. She'd seen more than enough of Sinclair for the damn year, and unless he used up the favors she owed him the Storm-Cloud didn't want to owe him more.

Vory v Zakone (Singular vor, Plural vory) – Thieves-in-Law, title awarded by one's peers (like a peerage title rather than a military rank).

Baba – (Old) Woman

Devochka – Basically 'Girl', (younger) lady