39 years earlier, 1982...

Michael, Richard's father, was involved in several underground, illegal affairs. As a young teen, Richard had no choice but to work for him. During his time working with his father, Richard was an accomplice in the shady dealings Michael had done and would even have his loyalty tested by the people his father employed. It wasn't until Richard reached the age of seventeen that he became fully initiated after accidentally taking someone's life.

In doing so, Michael trusted Richard to handle more serious jobs, so he employed him full-time. Richard was forced to drop out of high school and work closely alongside his father. Just three years later, at twenty years old, Michael had given a big job to his son. Richard was to take out Elijah Bowers, one of Michael's biggest competitors, at a famous auction and wipe out the remainder of his crew before anyone from the opposing side could figure out who attacked them.

Michael grabbed Richard by the shoulder when he saw that his son looked nervous, "Hey, what's the matter with you, you good? This'll be easy. Once we get rid of him, we'll be smooth sailing. We just gotta make it to the auction in time. Mostly everything is already set up, we just need you to do your part once you're given the go-ahead."

Richard nodded, "Yeah, I got it."

He slapped the back of his head, "Now come on and help us load the trucks."

Richard brushed it off and helped load several trucks with guns, explosives, helmets, vests, gas masks, and a few other gadgets. Once they were finished, he hopped in one of the trucks, where his parents were, while the rest of the crew followed closely behind as they drove to the auction. Before turning into the parking lot, Michael pulled out his walkie-talkie and communicated with the other guys, "Let's pull up to the back so no one sees these trucks. And space them out."

"Roger that", they said in response as they did what they were told.

As everyone exited their vehicles, they headed toward the entrance and made their way through security. Each of them was patted down and passed through a metal detector to make sure no one was carrying anything on them. Once they were cleared, they were directed to sign in with the staff to ensure their names were on the guest list. They each flashed their fake IDs to get through and were let in shortly after.

Michael told Richard to split off from him as he pointed, "You need to be close to the stage so you can exit out the side door when it's time. You hear me?"

Richard snapped out of his mind, "Yeah, I hear you."

Michael sighed and dug his hand into his shoulder as he pulled him closer to whisper, "Don't mess this up."

Richard pulled away and gave his father a mean glare, but didn't talk back. He listened to him and sat near the exit that was close to the stage. All of the other men spread out in the auditorium as well so they wouldn't be clumped in one area, but Michael and Dianna, his wife, sat together.

As the room began to fill, and the auction about to commence, one of the men from Michael's crew, Jeremey, got up and discreetly walked out to do his job. He managed to gain access to the control room, killing the two guards that were inside. As he looked around, he noticed the vent up above and unscrewed it with a coin he'd been holding on to. Once he got it open, he removed the fire extinguisher that had been hanging on the wall and began tweaking it.

With his own powders and chemicals he snuck in, he was able to concoct a poisonous gas and spray it through the ventilation system. Since it was limited, it was only enough to knock out the security who stood at the front. That's all he needed though, since he just wanted to make sure that they wouldn't be able to notify the police or interfere once all the commotion had started. After he confirmed they were down from looking through the cameras, he hacked the footage to put it on a continuous loop, locked the door behind him, returned to his seat in the auditorium, and let Michael know that he was done.

Michael pulled out his walkie-talkie and spoke in code to his son, "The baby bird has hatched. I repeat the baby bird has hatched. Find the nest."

Richard heard that and immediately knew what to do. At this point, the auction had already begun, so he wanted to slip out without drawing too much attention to himself. He slowly got up and put his head down as he exited through the side door. Richard knew the phrase "the baby bird has hatched" meant that Jeremey had completed his job. He also knew that "find the nest" meant to go to the trucks out back. Avan, a guy from their crew, had stayed outside to keep an eye on things, so Richard knew he'd have the area clear for him. Also, the security system had been disabled, so he knew the alarm wouldn't go off when he opened the back door.

As he exited, he saw Avan guarding their trucks. He went over to him and they began unloading it. He grabbed the empty bag he'd placed into one of the trucks and filled it with the explosives. He then geared up by putting on a helmet, and vest, and equipping himself with a calico. As he was about to enter back through the building, Avan put out his hand to stop him, "Hey, once you get done placing those explosives, you need to find a different way to enter. If you come back through that side door, they're gonna see you in your gear and the jig will be up."

Richard nodded, "I know, I got this." He removed Avan's hand and before even entering the building again, placed some of the explosives on the cars that belonged to Elijah and his crew. Once he was finished, he went back inside the building. He entered all of the back rooms and placed the explosives inside. He looked around and realized where he was and knew that he had access to the backstage area.

He crept around the corner and slowly opened the door to what appeared to be where all the auction items were being held. He hid behind a random table when he saw a woman come back and pull an item from the inventory. Once she made her way back to the stage, he came out of hiding. He quickly remembered that his father had told him about the item that Elijah himself would be presenting. It was an AM/FM pop-out radio.

He assumed the coast was clear and tiptoed over to all of the auction items. It didn't take him long before he found the radio and took it back with him to his hiding spot. He unscrewed it and carefully placed a small explosive inside, and screwed it back on. He went back over, placed it where it had previously sat, and left the backstage area. He had a button that would detonate the explosives at any time, so he was in control of the situation. He radioed his father on the walkie and let him know he was finished.

So while Richard was finding another way inside, the rest of the crew got up one by one and headed outside to gear up. Richard found a window that didn't sit too high and began climbing up. When he reached it, he pushed it with force and was able to slip in. He hit the ground, but he was fine. He just needed to figure out where he was. The plan was to stay out of the auditorium until everyone was in full gear. Once Richard received the go-ahead, he would detonate the explosives and deal with the remaining crowd.

He needed to make sure he wasn't too far away because the explosives wouldn't work otherwise. He jogged down the long hallway and looked side to side, completely ignoring what was in front of him. In an instant, he collided with a young woman holding drinks and caused her to spill them all over herself, knocking her down in the process. His eyes widened as he helped her off the ground, "I am so sorry, I didn't see you."

When he got a good look at her, he couldn't help but notice just how beautiful she was. She noticed he was staring and visibly became uncomfortable. He noticed and snapped out of it, "Uh, what are you doing here?"

She wiped off her dress, "I was supposed to be serving these drinks to the guests. Thanks to you I can't do that anymore."

He sighed and shook his head, "You need to get out of here. Like now."

She looked him up and down, "Wait, why are you dressed like that? You don't look like security."

"That's beside the point, you shouldn't be here. How old are you? You look young", he said panicked.

She rubbed her arm, "I'm eighteen. And how is that beside the point? Who are you? Why are you dressed like you're SWAT or something? Is everything okay?"

He looked around and then back at her, "Look, I'm begging you to get out of here, alright? I will answer all your questions later, but you shouldn't be here right now. Is this your job or something? I can get you a new one but-"

"No, I can't leave. I came here with my dad", she interrupted.

"Who's your dad? I can keep you and him safe, but you have trust me", he said desperately.

"His name's Elijah", she said unknowingly.

This caused Richard to stumble back, "W-what?"

She then pointed to herself, "And my name's Vivian. He's supposed to be presenting an item and then we were gonna leave after that. Can't it just wait until that happens?"

His heart sank as soon as she said her father's name because he knew that was who he needed to kill. But he never wanted to do any of this in the first place. He wasn't cut out for this kind of life. And now this innocent girl was about to lose her father because of him. He couldn't bear the thought. Even if her father wasn't innocent and just as corrupt as his own, he couldn't go through with it. It was like a switch flipped inside of him and made his mission change. All he wanted to do was save this girl.

Vivian snapped him out of his thoughts, "Uh, I think someone's been trying to talk to you."

"What?" He asked confused.

She pointed to his walkie-talkie that had been hanging on the side of his pants and he finally acknowledged it. Richard didn't realize this, but for the majority of his conversation with Vivian, his father, and some others in their crew were trying to let him know that Elijah was on stage and to detonate the explosives before it was too late. All he heard yelled at him through the device was, "Do it!" There were no more code words, he had a job to do.

As he heard this, he looked back up at Vivian. He held out his hand, "Come on, I gotta get you to a safe pl-"

Loud gunshots from the auditorium interrupted his speech and he knew that it was his fault. She hesitantly grabbed his hand and he helped her through the window he'd entered in from. He followed quickly after and led her to where their trucks were. He helped her get inside the back and got out to close the doors. Before he did, he looked her in the eyes, "Vivian, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. Just stay here and please don't contact the police."

She looked terrified but she nodded her head in agreement. He closed the truck doors on her and sighed in disappointment at himself. He knew that he needed to be a part of this as much as he didn't want to. He thought to himself that if he survived this, he knew he would never hear the end of it from his father. Maybe he could convince him that he ended up getting caught and that's why he couldn't detonate the explosives. But his father wasn't dumb, he knew his son too well.

As he entered through the back doors, he made his way to the auditorium where there was an all-out war between both crews. He looked at the stage and noticed that Elijah was already dead. He sighed and pressed the button to detonate the explosives anyway because at least they wouldn't be able to get away in their cars and if they were hiding in one of the rooms he placed the explosives in, they'd be obliterated.

Elijah's men had prepared for an ambush because they were all in gear as well and were lighting Michael's crew up. Richard positioned himself behind some chairs and engaged in the shooting. As he focused on shooting at Elijah's men, he didn't check his surroundings, so he didn't see one of the men aiming their guns at him. By the time he noticed, he was too late to react. Thankfully, Michael shot the guy, saving Richard's life.

Richard looked at his father horrified. Michael bent down and yelled, "Have you seen your mother? She's not in the same spot as she was sitting!"

Richard shook his head, "No, I haven't seen her, but if-"

"No, Dianna!" Michael yelled as he watched his wife running away and heading for the exit. One of Elijah's men aimed their gun at her and immediately opened fire, letting off a few rounds. Michael yelled out again and began gunning everyone around her down. He got out of cover and rushed over to his wife.

"Dad, no!" Richard yelled to his father.

As Michael ran to Dianna, he was shot in the leg, which caused him to fall. Richard's eyes widened, "Dad!" He, too, ran from cover to go over to where his father had fallen. Since they were both close to the exit, Richard dragged both his mother's and his father's bodies out into the hallway. Michael was still alive, but his mother was dead.

Michael sat over her body as he sobbed. Richard cried over his mother as well but knew they couldn't stay there. He wiped his tears, "Dad, we gotta go. Just wait in the truck, you're shot!"

"This is your fault!" He yelled to his son.

"What?" Richard asked in shock.

But his father didn't say another word. He continued to mourn. Richard looked around to make sure that no one else was in the hallway with them. He bent down to console his father, but Michael pulled away. He stood up and pointed to Dianna, "Put her in my truck, I'm finishing this."

"Wait, I can help. Let me help!" Richard insisted.

"You've done enough. Just do as you're told", he said coldly as he limped back into the auditorium.

Richard secured his mother in his arms and weakly carried her outside. He opened the back doors to the truck and was met with instant horror from Vivian who had still been inside. She pointed, "W-who is that?"

Richard placed her body inside and laid her down gently. He wiped his tears, "It's my mother."

She covered her mouth, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry."

"Come on, I'm not going to make you stay in here with her body", he said with his hand out. She took it and stepped outside as he closed the truck doors behind them.

She got in front of him, "Wait, is my dad okay? Did you see him? I heard explosions coming from everywhere, what happened?"

He softly sighed, "Don't worry about it. Everything's being taken care of."

Richard thought it best to remain outside and wait until it was all over. He didn't want to put Vivian in any more danger, and for some reason, he thought that if he went back in she would follow him. Mainly because she wanted to know what happened to her father, but also because she felt safe with him despite the situation.

After about an hour had passed, the back doors of the building opened, and out came the remaining men of Michael's crew. Vivian stood there confused when she didn't see her father come out. She had no idea what was going on. One of the men, Omar, looked at Richard, "Pigs showed up, we gotta bounce. Everybody roll out!"

Michael locked eyes with Richard and headed toward him. Once he got close enough, he slapped him as hard as he could across the face, which caused Richard to fall to the ground. Avan touched Michael's arm, "Boss?"

Michael crouched down and grabbed Richard by the shirt, "Do you know what you've done? The pain you've caused me!?"

Vivian gasped and went down to where Richard was. She gave his father a mean look and then touched his face, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, "I'm fine, it's nothing."

Michael then looked at the girl and pointed, "Who is this and what is she doing back here?"

Richard put his hands out, "Her name's Vivian. She's only eighteen, she shouldn't be here. I saved her."

"You...saved her?" Richard's father asked bitterly.

Avan nudged Michael, "Boss, we can do this later, we gotta go! We need to fix your leg up. Have Richard drive the truck. Deal with your problems later."

Michael was upset with the situation, but he agreed. He asked to ride in the back of the truck where his wife was, while Richard drove and Vivian sat on the passenger's side. As they drove back to their base, Vivian finally spoke up, "My father's dead, isn't he?"

Richard quickly glanced over at her before paying attention to the road. He sighed, "I'm sorry."

"I knew it was gonna happen sooner or later. Do you know who did it?"

He shook his head, "No, sorry."

She softly sighed, "You know...my mother was killed in the same way yours was. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught up in my dad's mess. And now he's dead. I have...no where to go."

Richard placed a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you can stay with me. I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you and I meant that."

"But your father-"

"You let me worry about him. I've saved up enough money from working for him. Once we get back, I am taking it and we are leaving", he said.

She looked at him with hope-filled eyes, "Okay."

They arrived at their base and everyone exited their trucks. Michael instructed all of his men to leave so he could speak to Richard alone. He tried getting Vivian to leave as well, but she insisted on staying. Out of respect, she waited over in the corner so she wouldn't hear their conversation.

Michael looked Richard in the eyes, "I'm sending you off to Italy."

"What!? You can't do that, I'm an adult!"

"An adult with the mind of a child. I can't have someone so unstable be a part of my crew. I have a friend there, he will help you-"

"I'm not going!" Richard yelled.

"Yes, you are! All that money you have saved up? I have access to it and if you want it back, you'll do as I say. You need to earn my trust back. What you did today cannot be undone. No son of mine is going to put a stain on my legacy like that. You're leaving first thing tomorrow morning and the girl goes with you too", he said as he began walking away.

Richard was furious with his father. He yelled out, "You can't do this! It's not fair!"

Michael ignored him and left them in the room together. Vivian walked over to Richard and knew that something was wrong. She looked at him with sympathy, "Whatever it is, I know you'll get through it. I'm sorry that things suck right now, but it's gonna be okay."

He grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips, "I sure hope you're right."

Richard had accepted his fate but was still confused about why his father was sending him away, and to Italy of all places. There were three reasons why Michael decided to ship him away. The first was that he wanted Richard to earn his trust back. What he did was reckless and caused an unnecessary amount of casualties. Michael knew that his friend in Italy would be able to get him back to where he needed to be.

Secondly, it was punishment for getting Dianna, his mother killed. Michael fully blamed Richard for her death, despite him having no direct involvement with it. To Michael, everything that happened was because Richard didn't detonate the explosives, so whether it was direct or indirect, it was his fault. Michael also forced Richard to take Vivian along with him to Italy so she would be involved in the lifestyle as well. He hoped that it would teach him a lesson if something had ever happened to her.

Lastly, he was trying to protect his son. Since he knew that the mission mainly failed because of Richard, if people in his crew found out that information, they would want him dead. Regardless of him being the son of the boss. So to keep that from happening, and having his men target his son, he wanted to send him off somewhere far away. Since he had a trusted friend, Italy was the perfect place for him.

Early the next morning, Michael sent Richard and Vivian off on a flight to Rome, where they met up with a man at one of his facilities. He instructed them to sit down in the chairs in front of him while he leaned against his desk. He smiled, "I hope your trip here was smooth. I know there were talks of some storms in the area. Glad to see you both made it here safely."

Richard gave him a straight look, "Yeah, it was fine."

The man got up and held out his hand to shake, "Not sure if your father already told you, but my name is Eylias Bec. You two will be working for me from now on. Now he mentioned that a young woman would be coming along, but I don't think I ever got your name, dear."

Vivian looked nervously at Richard before turning back to Eylias and responding, "Uh, Vivian. Vivian Bowers. You can just call me Vivi for short if you want."

He flashed a small smile, "That won't be necessary. And did you say...Bowers? As in...Elijah Bowers' daughter?"

She nodded, "Yes."

He sighed, "Ah, I heard about what happened. Sorry for your loss."

Richard finally spoke up again, "Sorry, sir, but what exactly are we doing here? And why does my father trust you so much?"

Eylias cleared his throat, "I'm glad you asked. Michael and I met about seven years ago. We uh...did a job together and from that day, we knew we could trust each other with our lives. Despite what you may think, he's a good man. He gave me a lot of advice and helped me start my own business. Now you guys are here because your father says that you need to earn his trust back. It seems you've gotten soft. His words."

Richard rolled his eyes, "Of course they are."

"Anyway, you two will be under strict supervision. I'll teach you everything I know so that you can become the best at what you do. You'll be working alongside many others who come from all different backgrounds. You will not question the types of jobs you'll be doing. Granted, the type of job you do will determine how much you'll be getting paid. You can make anywhere from $5,000-$1,000,000. It all depends on your skill", he revealed.

Both Vivian's and Richard's eyes widened at the amount of money mentioned. They couldn't believe their ears. Richard almost choked as he spoke up, "I'm sorry, what? That's an insane amount of money. What kind of jobs would we be doing?"

Eylias smiled at his excitement, "We can discuss that further when I have you guys sign the contract."

Vivian smiled at Richard, "I don't even need a contract after hearing that, I'm in! Can you imagine how much money we'll make?"

Richard returned the smile and nodded, "Yeah, that's amazing. We could do so much! Hey, Mr. Bec?"

"Yes?"

"How long do you have to work here? I'm thinking we'll have all we need within a couple of months", Richard said.

Eylias smiled again, "Most of my employees have been here for many years. It's all their choice. I have a feeling that once you start reaping the benefits, you'll think twice about wanting to leave so soon. Shall we bring out the contracts?"

They both eagerly agreed and Eylias brought out the papers for them to sign. Like a majority of young people who are presented with a bunch of paperwork, neither of them read through it fully. They signed their names on each page as they quickly skimmed through the reading. Nothing else was on their minds but the amount of money Eylias had said that they could potentially be making.

Once they were all finished, Eylias congratulated them and welcomed them aboard. He popped open a bottle of champagne and toasted to his new employees, "Cheers to new beginnings! And lifelong partnership!"

Richard instantly clinked his glass to Eylias's, while Vivian had a split second of concern. She looked at Richard, "Lifelong?" Richard completely ignored her troubling discovery and pulled her in for a kiss.

He laughed, "We're gonna be rich, baby!"

Vivian tried to be happy, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they both just made a big mistake. It wasn't like either of them had a choice. They were sent there to work for him regardless, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. Richard and Vivian were both on the same page about one thing though. Their lives were about to be changed forever...