As long as Gina could remember, her dad had been the focal point of the gang. His orders were obeyed with hardly any questions asked. Even when he informed his men that his hot-headed youngest girl was supposed to be their new leader, they trusted him. They would willingly break the law, kill, and lay down their lives for him.

Tonight, he had given his last order. At his word, they had piled up in the living room at the villa. As with any other gathering they had held, Carlo’s retirement party was a festive occasion, though Gina couldn’t enjoy it the way she usually did. When, at the end of the night, her dad gathered everyone around to speak and to raise his glass to everything they had accomplished, she felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach.

“We started as just a few guys in an old warehouse,” he said, a warm hand firmly planted on Gina’s shoulder. “But we’ve become so much more. With Regina at the helm, I know you will become bigger and better.” He raised his glass to the ceiling. “I propose a toast to my daughter, but also to everyone of you, who’s helped to get us to where we are.”

Glasses and bottles reached for the ceiling, so the contents sloshed and spilled. It made her glad she had decided to forego a wall-to-wall rug in the room.

“To you, sweetheart,” her dad said, tightening his grip on her shoulder.

They clinked their glasses together, and she choked back tears.

“To you, daddy.”

The crowd around them dispersed to be replaced, instead, by Carlotta and Franco, accompanied by Leoni. Everyone congratulated Carlo on his retirement. Even Leoni, although he sounded less than sincere.

“It was so good of you to join us, Mr. Leoni,” Carlo said, amusement playing in his golden-brown eyes.

The thief grumbled and cast a glance at Lotta. “I didn’t exactly have a choice. Carlotta dragged me here. Though since you have the painting I don’t know why I’m still your prisoner.”

“Oh, come on, Marco,” Lotta said with a laugh. “We’ve had some fun, haven’t we?”

Leoni muttered something that sounded a lot like fucking Stockholm Syndrome under his breath, and Gina looked at Lotta. Her friend had a wicked gleam in her eye.

Carlotta and Leoni? Now there was a weird thought.

“You’re free to go whenever you like,” Gina told him. “We do have the painting. Though keep in mind that we’ll come for you if you encroach on our territory again.”

“How could I forget?”

Gina’s attention was forced from Leoni when Franco cleared his throat.

“I have something to say.”

She froze and turned. Her dad’s arm wound its way around her again, which suddenly made her feel bad. Looking at his face, she realised that there was something he hadn’t told her. Franco looked the same way.

“Regina, since Carl is retiring, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to do the same.”

It felt like a punch to the gut.

“Wow, Franky, that’s great.”

She winced at how unconvincing her voice sounded. And she hadn’t called him Franky since she was seven. Pull yourself together, Gina!

“I’m going to go live with my daughter,” Franco continued. “Our relationship has been strained, but since she had a child, she asked if I wanted to live with them and patch things up. I said yes.”

“That’s wonderful,” Gina said. “I’m really happy for you. You deserve it.”

“If she doesn’t mind, I’ll leave some of my contact lists with Carlotta.”

Lotta grinned. “I thought I’d never get my hands on those.”

The old man—and God, now that Gina looked, he was so old—chuckled and assured her he wouldn’t dream of leaving them with anyone else. The word now spread in the room that he was leaving, too, and he was dragged away for congratulations and reminiscence. It left Gina standing in the middle of the room surrounded by her dad, Lotta, and Leoni. Especially the two former stared at her intently.

“I was going to tell you before,” Carlo said. “But with all the planning and the move…”

“It’s fine, dad,” she said. “It’s weird is all. Franco has always been here…”

Franco was the one who inducted Carlo to the gang. He supported her dad, was instrumental in making sure that he became the leader. He was her godfather and he had even babysat her and her siblings—reluctantly, perhaps, but he always seemed to care. And now he was leaving.

“We’re both just a phone call away,” her dad said.

As if it had just been waiting for its cue, Gina’s phone buzzed, and when she checked, Enzo’s name came up on the screen. A whole other set of emotions mixed in with the sadness. She talked to him every night now, and every time he called, it sent jolts of electricity racing up and down her spine. This call was a good excuse to get outside, out of the stuffy house and into the fresh air, so she excused herself and went outside.

If she had hoped for a simple, uncomplicated chat like any other night, though, she was disappointed. He was in Monte Vista and he was going to come around for the painting. She felt something indeterminable at the thought of seeing him. The sensation reminded her of the time she got food poisoning from some bad shrimp. But it also reminded her of the drop of a rollercoaster. The very best moment, when you were weightless and free and terrified at the same time.

She assured him it was okay. He could come over once the party was done. Then she collapsed on the bench outside, because her knees were so wobbly they couldn’t carry her weight.

“He’s a difficult client, that one.” Her dad smiled softly at her.

“He’s coming for the painting once the party is over,” she explained. “So not that difficult for much longer.”

“I have my doubts about that.” Carlo took a seat next to her on the bench. “You know, in one thing you’re nothing like your mother. You have a terrible poker face.”

Gina sat up indignantly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I only mean that you don’t hide your emotions very well, try as you might.”

“I’m trying to get better at that,” she said with a pout.

“Don’t,” he implored her. “Trust me when I say, it’s better if you remain this way.”

“It won’t exactly make my clients happy.”

“Okay, don’t let your wealthy clients know how much you despise them. But there’s nothing wrong with showing your emotions to me or your friends, sweetie. Same goes for the young man, if you’re as fond of him as I suspect.”

“I’m not.”

Her dad chuckled and patted her arm. “Of course not, love. I’m only saying—you don’t hide your emotions nearly as well as you might like, and I think that’s a good thing.”

“You know Lotta said that, too,” Gina grumbled. “Said I’m transparent.”

“Carlotta’s wise. It almost makes me feel better about leaving.”

“Dad, I told you it’s not a big deal,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”

“Oh, I know that, but I’m your dad, so I can’t stop worrying. Your mother will be furious with me for the next long time, because I won’t be able to stop myself from calling to check. It feels like I’m leaving my little girl home alone for the first time again. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.”

Gina smiled at the memory. He left her and Giuliano alone for a weekend when they were younger and hounded them with phone calls constantly. Vittoria ended up yelling at him that he may as well not have left.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about me doing anything criminal,” she said. “Because I definitely will. About the worst that can happen is I get a few more tattoos.”

Carlo sent her a pointed look.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Watch me.”

He couldn’t look cross for long. His face softened into a smile.

“Those damned tattoos. I expressly forbade you from getting them.”

“I was eighteen when I got them, so it was none of your damned business.”

“You were eighteen years old and two days, you little bastard.” He laughed and bumped her arm with a fist. “The first fucking thing you did apart from buying alcohol in bulk was get those abominations.”

“And then you acted like a baby about it and refused to talk to me for four days.”

They both laughed, but his soon stilled and he looked at her.

“You looked so grown-up when you came home with them,” he said, looking at her sadly. “I couldn’t bear it.”

“Daddy…” Gina hooked her arm under his and moved to place her head on his shoulder.

He continued as if he didn’t notice her.

“They were permanent, that’s what really got to me. I remember looking at you and thinking how grown you looked and that it was permanent. It wasn’t just a phase, like when you wore those ugly platform shoes or dyed your hair. I looked at you and thought… that young woman, that’s my little girl now. It’s permanent.”

“Like you moving out.”

They shared a look, and she felt so small. Like when she was little and afraid and he comforted her.

“I’ll be here the second you open your mouth, sweetheart. Nothing but being dead and buried can keep me from you. Even then, I’m open to haunting anyone who dares to hurt you, I swear.”

“I know daddy.”

He wrapped his arms around her and cradled her close. They sat like that for a long time and then he said, in a low, careful voice:

“Gina, if you like the guy, give it a shot.”

“But he… I…”

“Think about it, sweetie.”

“I don’t know if I do like him,” she said.

“Yeah, you do. You know.” He let go of her and took a deep breath. “I’d better go say goodbye and then head to Collesena.”

“Mum’s waiting.”

“She is.”

He left that night and somehow it wasn’t until he called from her mum’s cabin that the reality set in: It was permanent. He was gone.

Author’s note: Hi guyyysssss! 🙂 And welcome back. I’m so happy to finally be sharing this chapter. Boyfriend really enjoyed this one, and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with it as well. I’ve wanted to include that little anecdote about Gina’s tattoos since chapter six. I tried shuffling it in there, but it didn’t make sense. Then I tried again in the chapter when Carlo announced he was retiring. Still didn’t work. But when it came to me here, it just slipped right in perfectly – even going so far as to name the chapter 🙂 So yeah, this was probably extremely sentimental, but you probably know by now that father-daughter relationships melt my heart. It’s kind of weird posting this chapter which is kind of the end of Vittoria and Carlo’s journey – because at the same time, I’m writing the beginning in my rewrite. Speeeeaking of rewriiiiites, you could, like, totally go read about Carlo and Vittoria right now because I started posting the gen 1 rewrite this week *NUDGE NUDGE*

Shameless rewrite plugs aside, I also want to draw everyone’s attention to the recap page (you can get to it by clicking the big, friendly letters saying ‘recap’, funny enough). I made some small changes to it. It was getting very long because there are a lot of chapters in this gen, soooo, the recaps are now behind collapsible links so that you don’t have to scroll too much to get to the more recent ones. Is this an important thing? No. But I’m still going to bring attention to it because I can and because I think it looks nice. So there.

Lastly, I really can’t wait for you guys to read the next chapter, which is also the last chapter of part 2! You may have seen from the chapter list that I’ve already started filling out part 3, but I shan’t spoil anything much, just… get excited. I mean, you don’t have to. But it would be nice. Anyway, I’d better stop before I ramble you off the blog. Thank you SO much for reading if you made it this far. I’ll see you for the next post.

Cheers!


23 Comments

Jowita · November 24, 2018 at 2:01 pm

Oh no, don’t tell me these are those ugly mannequins from Tumblr pretending to be Sims right there? Tumblr depraved you, I swear!!!
Okay, I’m just kidding. 😛
This was such a bittersweet chapter. It looks like now the women take over the gang. Way to go, I’m all for girl power of Lotta and Gina! And the sweet father-daughter talk was on point. Carlo, the sweet and caring daddy. I like the bit about Gina’s tattoos. And I bet even Carlo is #teamEngina, I swear!
Ah, the sweet going back to Vittoria. These two! It will be extra fun reading about them for the second time in the rewrite.
I love your recaps page, it’s so neat! 🙂 ♥

    NotJustaBook · November 24, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    Indeed, those are ugly mannequins. In my ugly pictures… Doesn’t help that the pictures are poorly taken so they’re extra obvious and ugly 🙂

    Yup, it’s a woman’s world in this gang by now 😛 I love writing Gina and Carlo – they’re so cute.
    I’m excited to be writing about them as well 🙂 Feels like I can do their story so much more justice.
    Thank you ^_^ he, he, couldn’t help but draw attention to it – I think it looks better now.
    Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂

audreyfld · November 24, 2018 at 2:39 pm

I loved this chapter. It made me just a little emotional. 😢😢😢 The father daughter talk and the tattoo thing was awesome. I’m glad he told her to not run from howmshe feels about Enzo. Can’t wait for the next chapter. Really hoping for some fireworks (happy ones) between these two as they finally admit their feelings for each other to each other. ❤️❤️❤️

    NotJustaBook · November 24, 2018 at 3:59 pm

    Aaw, thank you Audrey <3 I admit I got a little emotional while writing it 🙂 Like Jowita said, it looks like Carlo is shipping it a little as well, though the way they've been going on, I think most people have noticed by now 😛
    He, he, he, hopefully those two will finally admit to being into each other 😉
    Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Audrey <3

Kymber · November 24, 2018 at 5:31 pm

This was so good. Especially the talk at the end between father and daughter. It was heartwarming. <3 It was kind of neat that he's okay about Enzo and even encouraging her to pursue that. <3 <3 I'm really looking forward to what happens next.

    NotJustaBook · November 24, 2018 at 9:26 pm

    I loved writing that conversation. I think Carlo knows his girl and can see when she fancies someone 🙂 Ha, ha, their relationship makes me so emotional! 😀
    Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words, Kym. It means a lot 🙂

twinsimskeletons · November 24, 2018 at 11:33 pm

I JUST found those sim mannequins and I fucking love the idea. No need to make some random background sims! Genius.
I love father/daughter relationships too… They’re so close; I love it. And the tattoo story fit perfectly with the tone of the chapter, as well as acting as a parallel to the current story. I’m going to be distraught when Carlo dies, which is weird, because I usually don’t get /too/ upset when characters in legacies die. I think a lot of us (myself included) don’t really remember the parents exist once the kids come of age, so I love that Carlo has been such a fixture in Gina’s life. I hope he continues to pop in!
*chants* ENZO ENZO ENZO!!!

    NotJustaBook · November 25, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    They may be ugly (especially up close) but I do love having them as well. And I’m not really going to stop using them, even if they do make these pictures ugly 😛
    I’m so proud of how well the story ended up fitting into this chapter and to what’s happening right now. 🙂 So glad you think so too!
    I have thought about some possibilities for him dying, because he was already close to forty when his first kid was born. I’ll be pretty sad, too. I have a tendency to forget the parents, like you said, but I’ve had a hard time letting go of him. I can’t imagine he won’t pop in, honestly 😀
    Yesss, Enzo <3 His cute little face has been missing in these past two chapters.
    Thanks for reading <3

socallucyfan · November 25, 2018 at 9:06 pm

These father-daughter moments really give me the warm and fuzzy feels. <3 <3 I am so happy that he finally gets to be with Vittoria. I'm sure the burden of keeping her secret was a lot of him. Now, no more hiding.
I am sad to see Franco leave. Sad, but not surprised. She has big shoes to fill, but if anyone can replace Franco it is Lottie.
And I can't wait to Enzo to show up. Just because the heist is over, doesn't mean the drama is over.

    NotJustaBook · November 26, 2018 at 9:10 pm

    They really give me the fuzzies, too <3 These two are so close, I love writing them 🙂
    I think you're right. I honestly don't know how they managed to live apart for so long - I don't like being away from my boyfriend for more than a week, even after four years. It must be a huge relief 🙂
    I thought it only makes sense for Franco to go as well - he and Carlo are a unit in many ways. 🙂 I think you're right about Lotta 😉
    Ehehehe, no the drama is never over - you can be sure of that.
    Thank you so much for reading and commenting! 🙂 <3

greencatssims · November 27, 2018 at 11:09 pm

Such a beautiful chapter 🙂

    NotJustaBook · November 28, 2018 at 8:24 pm

    Thank you very much! 🙂

sempreviva · November 30, 2018 at 1:57 pm

Oh my god, I loved this chapter so much! You’re so right about the tattoo conversation, it just fit so perfectly there – it almost made me cry (and I say almost because it’s nearly impossible for me to cry)! I loved how emotional both Gina and Carlo were, especially Gina, and the way you wrote how small she felt now that her dad’s wing wouldn’t be above her anymore to help or protect her – I hope she realizes it’s okay to feel a little helpless sometimes, and to show said feelings too.
It was so great to see him reunite with his beloved wife though… they had been waiting for this for so long..! :’) <3
Ooooh, Lotta and Leoni??! I have a hilarious image of those too in my mind now, where Leoni has regretted everything he did with her, while she playfully (and a bit badass-y – ?? – is that even a word? Lol) chases him around to persuade him to sleep with her again, lmao!
Awww Enzo calls to get the painting and Gina is upset because she thinks it will be the last she sees of him? Don't be upset little Gina, I have a feeling Enzo will still be around for you 😉 <3 <3
Also, where can I find those mannequins everyone knows of??! LOL I have searched everywhere!!
I loved this chapter, it was so good! Can't wait for the next one! <3 😀

Lila Remonn · March 7, 2019 at 9:43 pm

Awwwww, this is so emotional and bittersweet 😖I’m sad Carlo and Franco are leaving, but I’m also happy they’re getting to resolve relationships in the final chapter of their lives — the ending shots of Vittoria reuniting with her husband once and for all are lovely. Although, all this talk of them getting old and retiring suddenly + unpleasantly reminded me they’re gonna die one day… I don’t want to imagine it 😭
Heh, I actually like the idea of Lotta and Leoni, and I don’t even know why! Maybe because I want to squish both of their cute lil faces lmao. Lotta is a worthy successor to Franco, I think. It’s awesome to see these two fierce, badass woman take the helm of the gang!
Of courseeeee Gina snuck out and got those tattoos without Carlo’s permission. That’s such a fitting context! It’s saddening that we will be seeing less father-daughter moments, because they have such a great relationship and you write it so well. And even Carlo is a Regenzo shipper, hmm 😉 He might as well have declared them married haha, he truly gives the word of the wise!
*clicks frantically on your reply to Sempreviva’s comment* Thank you for linking those nuggets of gold! I just searched through the mannequins tag on Lana CC Finds and found even more 😀 I only have one set of mannequins right now and I’m getting tired of reusing them haha. I think they’re super handy for crowd/public scenes, just saves sooo much time and crashing possibilities!
Awesome chapter <3

    NotJustaBook · March 8, 2019 at 7:53 pm

    It’s really sad to have them both leaving. And especially for Gina who’s always had them in her life. Changes like that are so hard to deal with.
    They are kind of cute together, ha, ha. Even if the circumstances they’re together under are iffy. 😛 Stockholm Syndrome, indeed…
    Since the moment I picked those tattoos out for Gina, I knew that she’d have gotten them against her dad’s wishes. 😛 Carlo doesn’t like tattoos or piercings or anything of the sort. There will be more father-daughter stuff for sure, but of course it’ll only be when she’s staying at his and Vittoria’s place. But I seriously can’t help it with the daddy-daughter stuff. I’m addicted. :’) And yup, at this stage, the only one still in denial about Gina’s feelings is Gina. 😀
    You’re welcome! Oh, you’re so right. I can’t get enough of them! They’re so super handy in crowd shots. My scenes often ended up very empty before because I just can’t be bothered to create enough sims to make it look alive.
    Thank you, Lila. And thank you for reading! 🙂 <3

amyqueen · August 26, 2019 at 8:43 pm

Who knew a conversation about tattoos could be so beautiful and deep, oh my goodness :’) As the self-dubbed president of the daddy Carlo fanclub, I think it goes without saying that I’m going to miss him and his heartfelt convos with Gina. I have to say their relationship throughout the gen has been one of the things I love most about it. You’ve struck a balance between them being playful but also loving, and any of their moments together have been a pleasure to read/see. And those photos of him and Vittoria at the end… my heart 💓 I guess it’s now officially time for a new era of the good guys gang to begin, let’s go ladies ✊ I’m going to echo some of the sentiments above and also say I’m kind of digging Lotta and Leoni as well, haha. Now, I’m quite looking forward to Enzo’s arrival. With the painting business behind them, it’s time for those buds of romance to bloom without interference :3 This was an amazing chapter! ❤️

    NotJustaBook · August 27, 2019 at 6:46 am

    I’m so glad you liked that. That conversation is still one of my favourite things I’ve written in this generation. :’) I, too, am a huge fan of daddy Carlo so I don’t think it’s too much to say that he’ll make more appearances. 😉 <3
    But yeah, it's time for the ladies to take over. I, too, dig Lotta and Leoni. There'll be a little glimpse into their dynamic later and I'm telling you, they're fantastic. <3
    Hehehe, yeah, time to see the rich boy. 😉 <3
    Thank you for reading, Amy. <3

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