Angelo was just hungry. There wasn't any ulterior motive, no extra plan. He was just hungry. He hadn't eaten in a few hours, and he didn't like the idea of ordering food to the house. Better to just check in the kitchen, see if he could find someone, and make himself a sandwich or something.

Thankfully, someone was already there, saving him from having to hunt down Shay to ask, but they were effectively a stranger to him. He'd seem them around the house, but they'd never been introduced--one of the swing decisions, maybe? Or maybe someone who had said yes simply by virtue of Shay vouching for him.

Angelo wasn't sure how to feel about those. He just hoped it was the latter.

"Thanks," Angelo said, peeking into the cupboard and collecting stuff to make a sandwich before setting it all down and turning back to the girl.

"I don't think we've been introduced, so it's probably better to do that before I stuff my face. I'm sure Shay's already said it, but my name's Angelo Genovese. I'm the one who... well, is offering to adopt all of you." Which felt really weird to say, considering he'd only just introduced himself.

"Cordelia," Angelo acknowledged, obviously getting a feel for the name. "Or Cori. I have a Deedee at work so I think I'll stick with Cori. You're one of the seniors, right?" He'd been taking notes, more or less. Doing his best to remember the dozen people who kept getting mentioned by Shay and the others, making connections and trying to remember everyone.

It was hard, to say the least.

Angelo set about fixing himself a sandwich--composed, but obviously out of place in the strange kitchen--before turning his attention back to Cori.

"Is that tea?" He asked, his eyes falling down to the kettle. He didn't want any right then--his sleep was messed up enough without adding caffeine--but he was curious anyway. "And I suppose on a more topical point... How much has Shay told you about me?"

Before he'd come into the whole situation, he definitely hadn't cared in the grand scheme of things about all the Rosales kids. If Shay had one or two siblings, he'd have made an effort, but around the time that he realized there were almost a dozen, he'd given up on keeping track of them.

"Probably not much," Angelo said with a shrug. "I imagine Shay probably left out some of the most important bits because she felt like it wasn't her story to tell." And some simply because she hadn't known until after the speech was over and done with.

"So I suppose I should fill in the bits that she didn't get a chance to. I'm assuming you're not from New York--if you are, my apologies--but basically I was born in a situation like this." Angelo paused for a moment, gesturing vaguely around to the house. "My parents were both involved in the mafia, and when the Don had a kid of his own, I got assigned to be his playmate. I was more or less adopted by them, and when it came out that I had powers, I ended up a full member. Ended up in a life where killing people was pretty normal. Got to the point where I couldn't even go out. Wanted man and all. And then a letter showed up on my door that said I was special, and that there were other people like me, and I expected that the Don would say no."

Angelo paused for a moment, lost in the memory. An important one--maybe even the most important. His chance.

"He said yes. He said I deserved something more than a life of murdering others and being afraid of retaliation. That I deserved to know what a normal life felt like, and that in the end I could make my own choice, but only once I really could understand that choice. So he sent me here, and I lived... a normal life, I guess. It feels weird to say it, because normal life and lsland where there are literally vampires living next door don't really match up, but for me it was a real normal life. It was... amazing, really. I didn't even realize what it was like, to just be normal. And when I found out that Klaus and Vito were gone, that all of you were just scrambling to get things in order... I wanted to give you guys an out. I wanted to give you a chance to have a normal life, one where you don't have to worry about who's going to catch you going down an alley on your way to school. One where you don't have to worry about people whispering behind your back about how you're dangerous because of who your family is."

Which was a lot to say all in one go, but Angelo was obviously pretty invested in the whole idea.

Angelo was pretty much expecting her points to come up at some point. Shya'd already said something similar--what are you getting out of it--but no one yet had insinuated the idea that it was all part of the police plans.

"Not really," Angelo said with a shrug, leaning against the counter, his sandwich forgotten. "At first I went out of my way to avoid Klaus, when I met him. I was already pretty horrified by the idea that someone might think I'd fallen in with a gang. Gone back to my own ways, basically. But then I realized that it didn't really matter. The fact that I had any association with the Rosales--even if it was just with Shay--would be enough to convince those sorts of people I was with the Rosales family anyway. That there was any point to trying to play nice to people who would never treat me fairly to begin with."

And as for the insinuation that the police were encouraging it... Angelo couldn't help but snort.

"I imagine at least some of my coworkers think I'm doing a good thing by offering at all, but I think my boss is going to have a stroke over the very idea. I just got promoted to sergeant. I'm supposed to be getting used to my position. Instead I've suddenly had to take a month off and god knows what kind of hours I'll be able to work when I do go back. I can't just adopt a bunch of kids and then go back to working the weird hours I got used to as an officer."

As for explaining why she should trust him... that was trickier. A lot trickier.

"Do you know how I first met Shay?" Maybe she'd shared it, and he was wasting his time, but honestly he doubted it. Probably she'd kept it to herself.

Ah, so she was one of those sorts of people--straight to the point, eager to get to the end of the story. No leadup then.

"I'll spare you then," Angelo said with a shrug. "I'm here because I spend a lot of time thinking about what my life would be like if I didn't get that letter. The sort of life I'd have led. And now I'm here, looking at your situation... you guys aren't getting a magical later that gives you a chance to start a new life. So I want to be that letter. I want to give you guys a way out. I'm not a stranger to Shay, even if I'm a stranger to everyone else. I've got qualifications--hell I got a fu- freaking award for what went down on New Years--but I'm not going to lie and say I'm going to be some expert father figure. I'm not really going to try. All of you guys have already had more than enough fathers, but what you need is a responsible adult who you can rely on when shit goes south, who gives you a better environment."

Which was important. The environment. Even if Klaus had been a good father--the jury was still out on that--the environment he'd been raising them in wasn't good. It wasn't good for the teenagers, and it absolutely wasn't good for the kids.

"You're old enough to make your own decisions, to decide if you want this kind of life for yourself, or if you want something else. But I won't ever do anything to hurt those kids. Not ever. And if you want to come along--to help keep things together, to help keep an eye on them--then you're welcome to that. God knows I'm going to be in over my head for the first while. I could use someone who's willing to call me out when I mess up."