Stephano stood at the far end of the undistinguishable alley. He reached for the carton of matches in his suit pocket and grabbed the box with his hand. With a flick of his wrist the match was light and slowly he raised the flame to his mouth, and light the cigar that occupied it. Stephano exhaled and watched as the smoke rose above him, he then casually tossed the remnants of the match to the ground and smothered it with his foot.

Exhaling for the second time, Stephano then thought of past. To him it seemed so distance, as it was almost a lifetime ago, but inside he knew the wounds were still fresh. The vendetta he held to those that conspired against burned like a fire within. "One by one he would make them pay for their insolence." He thought to himself as his lips formed into a smirk. He made sure that his plan would work without error, and that the end result would be only success for his side. As it stood, Stephano's plan had already gone off without incident and the second stage of his scheme was in motion. All he had to do was wait, wait for the damn boy to show up.

The day before Stephano had one of his remaining men contact Mr. Peyton with the precise instructions to meet him here on 6th Street at exactly 11:35 PM. All Stephano had to do know was wait.

He shouldn't go, he really shouldn't.

Receiving a sketchy call just a day after Brian's funeral? This wasn't lining up well, and he knew of only one person who would give him specific directions to meet at a specific time.

Stephano Dieseli. The man who was supposed to be dead.

Cole had to be prepared to give up everything. The best outcome he could probably hope for was Dieseli demanding all his money back. Hell, maybe it wasn't Dieseli, maybe he was just a little too paranoid...hopefully. Either way he was prepared to face the worst case. If it was Stephano, than not showing at all would be a certain death sentence.

Cole drove within a block of the arranged meeting place and then covered the rest of the distance on foot. Saying his prayers on the way there that this was actually a cute brunette girl who just admired him...yeaahhh that was a little too wishful.

Moments later at 11:35, he found himself standing by the sign that signified 6th street, starring down an alley way looking at the back of that all too recognizable figure. "Fuck." He muttered and carefully made his way down the alley. "Mr. Dieseli." He said once he was within a few yards of the mob boss.

Glancing down at his watch Stephano observed the time, it was 11:35. Precisely when Mr. Peyton was suppose to arrive. It was not long after that he soon spied Mr. Peyton making his way cautiously down the alley.

As Mr. Peyton approached he shot a simple greeting towards his previous employer, he merely acknowledged it with a slight raise of the chin. Stephano then reached out with his right arm, gesturing to shake. "It has been some time my friend" Stephano spoke cooly as he waited for Mr. Peyton. "Yeah, it has" Cole nervously said has he reached to shake Mr. Dieseli's hand. As Mr. Peyton's hand came closer though, Stephano grabbed the outreaching arm and shoved Cole against the wall of the alley. Stephano then quickly grabbed the recovering Cole and pinned him up against the wall.

Cole squirmed, trying to break free but to no avail. Stephano was too strong, Cole was trapped. "You're a piece of shit kid, I hope you know that." Stephano said has he continued to restrain Mr. Peyton. "Us Dieseli's don't die as easily as you think. That being said kid, I am going to make you wish you were!" With that Stephano punched Cole straight in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Again Stephano struck the kid and then finally let him hit the ground. Before Cole could recover Stephano once more had him and then he asked the simple question "You happy I'm back?"

His immediate suspicion of the offered handshake was very quickly confirmed. Within the blink of an eye he found himself slammed against a cold concrete wall, struggling for breath against the mobster's surprisingly strong hold. Damn, this was the day he feared. He gave it a pretty good chance he was not getting out of this alive unless he fought his way out. He'd seen Stephano brutally murder his own men for something half as bad as what Cole had done to him.

"I did what I had to do." He barely managed from the stranglehold Dieseli had on him. As expected, that was far from a satisfactory excuse as Stephano landed two of the heaviest blows he'd ever experienced, completely disorienting him and leaving him struggling for air.

"The he-" He could barely speak from the combination of pain and lack of air as he was forced against the wall once again. "The hell do you want?"

Stephano clenched Cole's shirt and continue to brace his employee against the wall. He readied another punch, but then slowly lowered his arm. Then with a simple motion he summoned for two of his men to step forth from the shadows. Stephano let them take hold of Cole and now Stephano could answer Mr. Peyton's question. "It is not a matter of what I want, but what I WILL get or better yet, deserve." Stephano then grabbed another cigar from his pocket along with a match. With his back facing Cole he light, and exhaled. Slowly, Stephano turned and glared at Cole, he then brought the cigar to his lips and breathed out warming the embers. He then jabbed it onto Cole's chest and let the cigar burn his skin like branding iron. The man to Stephano's left covered Cole's mouth to dampen the scream he released. As the seconds passed Stephano reluctantly removed the cigar and threw it to the ground. He then glanced back at Cole. "I wish I was able to have this much fun with your friend Brain, but you see time was sort, so his suffering had to end relatively quickly. I don't have that problem here though, so I think I'll take my time."

Again, Stephano reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a butterfly knife. Without finesse he simply open it and motioned with it at Cole. "You see this Mr. Peyton, this will be for your throat when I am finally done with you, but that is quite some time away. Really it is something to look forward to." Stephano then withdrew the knife and walked closer to Cole. "For starters Mr. Peyton, I will be taking all of my money back that YOU stole from me." He then grabbed Cole's left hand and jammed Cole's pinky and ring finger harshly to the right producing a satisfying snap. "That was for trying to kill me.Though, a few broken fingers will be the least of your worries come the end of the night. Anything you have to say for yourself before we continue?"

Any escape ideas Cole might have had were pretty much eliminated as now two of Stephano's sheep were now restricting him. A mixture of panic and anger consumed his emotions, never in his life did he wish more that he had some super fighting skills...but he didn't.

He never could've imagine a cigar burn would be so painful. It was like an iron on bare skin. The next few words that came out of Dieseli's mouth though quickly vanquished any lingering pain. A surge of anger overtook Cole as he put all his energy towards lurching towards the mobster, but to no avail as the two restricting him did their job. "You motherfucker!!" Why the hell did he drag Brian into this? What did Brian ever do to Stephano? Suddenly a strong sense of guilt washed over Cole as he realized this all would've been avoided if he would've taken Brian's advice in the first place. His death was partially Cole's fault, he wasn't sure he could live with that anyway.

Only the sudden sharp pain of his two fingers snapping was enough to bring him back to the moment. He did his best to contain himself to implant some sense of toughness about him...not that it was really working.

"The goal was never to kill you, I left your fate up to the police." He grumbled out through clenches of pain. God only knows how bad he wanted Stephano dead right now though...There WOULD be justice for Brian.

"Listen, leaving my fate up to the police in my line of work is a death sentence." Stephano growled as he slowly stepped away from Cole and turned his back at him. He then looked up at sky deep in thought and paced back and forth for maybe a minute. Finally he turned back to faced the battered Cole. "As you are aware Mr. Peyton, you are still my employee, which means you still work for me. Even though I am already taking back the funds you stole there is something else I am expecting from you. One final job."

Stephano waited for Mr. Peyton response, but there was none. Cole seemed unresponsive to Stephano's words, simply dazed from the entire experience. Stephano again grabbed Cole's left hand and this time twisted Cole's pointer and middle finger sharply to the right until they too were also broken. From the pain Cole came back to his senses and Stephano continued. "As I was saying before you faded off, you are still my employee and you have one final job before you are 'laid off'. So, Mr. Peyton what do you say, one final job for old time sake?"

Cole seriously thought Stephano was just being funny or something. He was seriously going to have Cole do more work for him? Really? Immediately that told him that Stephano actually really valued him, otherwise he probably would've just killed him by now. The statement was so surprising that it just sort of left him dumbfounded.

That was obviously the wrong thing to do, as the mobster suddenly grabbed his hand and inflicted another round of some ungodly pain. After a few seconds to gather himself he finally managed. "Why would I bother if I'm just gonna get a knife to the throat in the end?" He muttered, sensing he had a little negotiation power if Dieseli wanted something from him. He was dreading what this "assignment" could be though, not that he was really prepared to do anything for this devil.

Stephano raised an eyebrow to Cole statement. "You are going to work for me one final time if you like it or not! Also, if I killed you outright you would even have the slightest chance of warning your friends." Stephano seemed to strike a cord in Cole so he continued. "Brian might already be dead, but your friends, the Torettos still remain. I free that one bastard from prison, and this is how they repay me. They will pay, just like you, just like Brian." Stephano then made a motion for his men to release Cole. Cole effortlessly slumped to the ground lazily looking up at Stephano. Stephano then withdrew the knife once again from his suit and this rolled the butterfly knife around his fingers. Once finished he jabbed the knife straight into the calf of Cole's right leg. "That is so you don't try going anywhere until I am done." Seeing the pain in Cole he added. "Don't worry that won't kill you... yet. Anyway where were we, aw right, this final job of mine. Really Mr. Peyton I have complete confidence that you can win this race so if you decided to throw it or fuck up I will see to it that you executed on the spot. The itself race is simple enough, 10,000 miles starting and ending here. Along the way you will be running drugs just to make things a bit more interesting. Winner receives approximately 25 million dollars. You however won't receive a cent of that, but having the chance to live a while longer is compensation in and of itself. You have two weeks to get ready. I will provide all the necessary tools required for this race. My friends and I will escort you to your home and if you try anything funny I will make sure that you are wiped from memory, understand?"

Cole could barely control the flood of emotions overcoming him as Stephano made threat after to the few friends he had, not to mention what he had already done to Brian. The only reason the kid wasn't attacking the mobster full force was thanks to his two goons that we're probably trained to restrain the toughest muscleheads.

Yet another paralyzing blow of pain shocked him just as he thought he could maybe take a breath. This guy sure knew how to create a world of hell. He immediately grabbed his calf in reaction of the pain as he only barely caught on to what Dieseli was saying. He had heard of that race before, it was an annual occasion. He never bothered with it cause 10,000 was just too long. It took him almost a full minute to recover to the point where he could actually say something. "I win, and you leave all of us to ourselves, no more bullshit." He hated like it sounded that he was giving up to Stephano, but he wasn't going to let this guy kill one more person he knew, it just wasn't going to happen.

"I knew you would come around to the idea eventually Mr. Peyton. As for your terms, I cannot agree. That being said, I have reason to believe that after this I will have no need or want of you or your sorry friends." Stephano began to walk towards of far end of the alley. The sound of a car door opening was heard and headlights soon illuminated the area. From the drivers seat of Lincoln Continental, Stephano made motion for Cole to be released and then spoke over the idling engine.
"Mr. Peyton before we begin this final venture, I must make a stop, at your home. You are going to drive us to wherever you are now staying and I shall collect anything I deem my property, glad you agree."
Before Cole could answer he was shoved down the opposite end of the alley towards the street and his car. Stephano's Continental rumbled slowly down the alley waiting for Cole to enter his car and drive home.

Cole left with a scowl as he limped his way to his Audi, paralyzing pain in his right calf preventing him from moving in any graceful manner whatsoever. Things could be worse, at least he had some cards on the table. Dieseli knew how valuable of a driver he was, otherwise there was no way in hell he would actually come back to him after having already been double-crossed once. You'd better believe Cole was going to use that to his full advantage.

Driving, as he found out, was extremely difficult in his condition. Luckily it was his right calf instead of the left calf, otherwise the clutch would be impossible to push. Nonetheless he drove to his rented paradise, figuring that there was nothing gained if he didn't cooperate.

As they arrived, Cole parked in the rather massive driveway and did his best to get to the front door. Never was he more grateful that he sold almost all the exotic cars he had in his possession for concern of a very similar instance. Now it was working out very nicely for him. He actually had made a bit of a profit on a few, not to mention some nice winnings money from recent, so he had every bit of the 18 million.

With the mobsters in tow, he deliberately lead the way to a large safe in the hidden away in the garage. He punched in the code and yanked it open, stepping aside to face the devil himself "18 mil, count it up." He said rather harshly before continuing. "As I see it, you have what you want. So here's the deal. I need to hear some favourable terms from you if you think for a second I'm going to drive for you once more. I have every reason to believe you'll just get rid of all of us at the end, so change my mind." Cole said with a little bravery as he looked for some additional shop rags to reinforce the wrap around his calf.

Kneeling down Stephano reached into safe and began to withdraw the money. Part way through Cole spoke. Stephano continued to collect the money and place it on the ground adjacent to the safe, seeming as he paid no attention to Cole's demands. Slowly he rose and faced Cole. "Favorable terms you say? Listen here, I am the only one giving out terms understand! I am going to make this simple. You drive for me and you keep your life. Nothing more, nothing less. Ask anything above and we are going to have some problems and I might just have to shoot you on the spot."

Stephano slowly rose up from the safe and began to scan the garage he was in. "Remember this kid. You try anything smart and I will end you faster you can dial 911. You will be watched until this race happens. Nothing too invasive, don't worry about that. I am just keeping tabs." A smirk grew on Stephano face as he started to move the move towards his car.

OOC: Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Second semester of college just started up and the past weeks have been pretty busy.