BASIC INFORMATION:
NAME: David Pavoncello. AGE: 32. PLACE OF BIRTH: Launceston, Massachusetts, United States. AFFILIATION: The Sovrani. OCCUPATION: Loyalist. FACE CLAIM: Alex Landi. AVAILABILITY: OPEN.
BIOGRAPHY:
Men like Corrado Pavoncello were not the type expected to turn.
They worked hard. They were loyal. They respected their chain of command.
They kept their fucking mouths shut.
David had placed his father on an unassailable pedestal for as long as he’d understood the kind of man he was; typical of most young boys in his position, influenced by the kind of neighbourhood they called home. The stories of the part the Capo played in Launceston’s arm of the Sovrani were as legendary amongst the people of Little Italy as they were the ranks of the organization itself. It stood to reason that he could only be proud of a man who had achieved so much.
For him to eventually turn his back on everything he'd worked for was incomprehensible.
Not nearly as much as betraying those who had become their family, though.
David had been eighteen years old when his father was exposed as an FBI informant, and he thanks God to this day that the revelation came when he was mature enough to make his own sane decisions. When Corrado finally testified against his Italian brothers in court, the evidence he gave put twenty-six Sovrani loyalists, of varying hierarchal roles, behind bars; some for far more years than they had left. So, when the man had begged his son to follow the rest of their family into the witness protection program—his Korean mother, who had always been scornful of his mafia ties, included—David had almost spat in the rat’s face.
Did he have no self-respect? No conscience?
Nothing came close to describing David’s blistering anger toward his family, but the fact that after they finally moved away, he didn't even attempt to pursue seeing his parents or two brothers ever again, did a damn good job of showing it.
The inhabitants of Valence seemed shocked that he’d remained in Launceston after a case that’d decimated the very people he’d stayed for. The thought the Auditore family might try to punish him because they couldn’t get to his father had crossed his mind. Not that he blamed them. When his Godfather, Lorenzo Vespucci, and the head of the Sovrani, Alessia Auditore, came forward and made clear any acts against him were forbidden, however, not only was he overcome with relief, but similarly, understood without doubt that he had made the right decision in choosing this family over the pathetic one that had abandoned them.
Just because the leadership had a ‘he shouldn’t pay for the sins of his father’ attitude, however, didn’t mean that everybody in the lower ranks felt the same way.
It wasn’t lost on him that there were people who had close and personal connections to those his father had put behind bars. Whilst it wasn’t his fault, grief was well known for making people act irrationally. David knew that he could’ve gone to Alessia about the savage beatings he’d received if he’d wanted to, but he never did. What would be gained by alienating his fellow Sovrani further? Unlike his father, he would never be a rat.
Shedding the looming shadow of what Corrado had done was difficult, but as David threw everything had into the Sovrani’s war against the Russians, he did well to quiet the majority of his doubters. The man was a fighter through and through because in defence of himself in the wake of his father’s reputation, he’d had to be. Facing off with most of the Russians was not a job many jumped at, but in an attempt to prove he was worthy of the second chance given to him, he would take any opportunity thrown his way to show he was the best fucking asset at their disposal. Did it often get him into trouble? Yes. The times the Russians had almost sent him to an early grave (though he usually made sure he had a few enemies for company) were too many to count. But as he continued to fight for Alessia, the woman who had showed faith in him when nobody else wanted to, things slowly but surely began to turn around.
People started to see him as his own person.
Not the son of a piece of shit who’d betrayed them all. David included.
For seven years, he was a beacon of hard work and unwavering loyalty to the cause. For a while, there had even been talks about him joining a select group chosen to head up the Italian expansion to the Californian city of Porto Velho. A part of him had considered the idea. Though things in Launceston had undoubtedly gotten easier over the years, around every corner seemed to be a reminder of the life he’d had before, and whilst he didn’t miss his piece of shit father in the slightest, the idea of what they could’ve been haunted him terribly. Ultimately, though, David chose to remain in the city with Alessia; the woman who had taken on a maternal role for him in the wake of the one who had abandoned him.
When she’d headed to Porto Velho on a business trip, ready to support the French in the opening of their impressive hotel, nobody had expected that she wouldn’t come back.
The woman had been executed outside of the party like she was a fucking animal.
Though the Italians had no real proof that the Russians were behind the assassination—particularly when they weren’t known for having a presence in California at all—it was the assumption they jumped to without hesitation. How many times had they already tried to murder her? The fact that they’d finally succeeded shook the entire family to its core; those with a personal connection to the woman, like David, most of all. Alessia had so thoroughly made the Sovrani her own, it was hard to imagine how it would exist in her absence. The stunned silence didn’t last long, though, and the Russians soon felt it.
If they thought their wars with the Italians had been bad before, they quickly realised otherwise.
With Alessia’s grieving father then at the helm, the Sovrani stopped at nothing to punish the Russians for what they’d done. Whilst they would’ve once attempted to keep things discreet for the sake of their reputation, they were maiming and murdering any Russian they could get their hands on in the streets without any care for the repercussions. David would've done anything asked of him. Assassination, battery, arson, he didn’t give a shit as long as it was punishing them. Losing Alessia had hurt, and as it turned out, the best way to quell the pain was to watch a Russian fucking bleed.
It has now been four years since her death, and animosity between the two sides has only worsened. Alessia’s sister eventually took over as their leader, but rather than returning to a similarly careful and calculated way of running things, she seems as hell-bent as any of them to not only fight the Russians for their business, but exterminate all of those who dared breathe in her sister’s city. When news hit that another member of the Auditore family had been murdered by the Russians, this time in London, it was as if she’d snapped entirely.
The order of an assault was instantaneous.
Almost as soon as the move to London was mentioned, David volunteered.
Unlike his initial thoughts with regards to Porto Velho, this time, he doesn’t give a shit about escaping the reputation of his father. In the years since their boss’s death, he’s more than earned his stripes. David let Alessia down once before by declining to take up her offer to follow to California, and perhaps, if he hadn’t, they never would’ve lost her at all. It's impossible to fix the past, but he knows how important it is to be a part of whatever future they’re planning in London. The Russians in Launceston know that their time is limited. Now, it’s time to show them that no matter where they go, the Sovrani will always be right behind them, ready to finish the job.
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS:
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single. FAMILY: Corrado Pavoncello (father, unplayable), Unnamed mother, brothers (unplayable), Lorenzo Vespucci (Godfather) CONNECTIONS:
Alessandro Elsayed: Best friend. In an organization all about being the most Italian Italian possible, meeting somebody else with a foreign parent was a relief. Though Alessandro wasn’t protected by an Italian surname in the same way David was, neither were completely spared the very small, elitist minority who still believed that the Sovrani should be Italian only. Though not the nicest thing to bond over, he’s glad they did. Alessandro never judged him for the shit his father pulled, and David will never forget that. He sure fills the void for the brothers he lost.
Giordana Rossi: Good friend. If there was a duo that would be sure to have any Russian pissing their pants and running in the opposite direction, it’s these two. Giordi had all the violence and skill, and he had all the fucking rage. Though their friendship seemed to sit on the backburner as she grew closer to Giorgio and Vincenzo, he’s hoping that now they’re back together in London, they can go back to the good old days of hunting together.
Michael Beneventi: Colleague. The fact most of those his father put behind bars were set to serve lengthy sentences had protected him from the fear of running into someone scorned by Corrado personally. Michael, however, managed to escape with a minor sentence. David hadn’t expected he would also be making the jump to London. Though he has successfully avoided him thus far, and therefore doesn’t know how Michael feels toward him after losing a decade of his life thanks to his father, he isn’t sure he’s ready to find out.