As the Jaguar sped around corners, in a more rural part of the state now, the in-car phone began to ring. The name 'Trig' appeared on the screen.
"I apologise in advance" Tony mumbled to Maria before hitting the button to answer the call.
"Trig, make it good I'm driving" Tony instructed shortly.A sigh emitted from the speaker before Trig began to speak "Hey Tony, why you always trying to rush me, eh? Did you pick up Dolly Don?" he started, with a chuckle at his own joke.
"That's Miss LeTale to you, Trig. She's in the car with me - and she can f**king hear you" he growled, apologetically glancing to Maria for his swearing and Trigs words.A more nervous chuckle came out of the speaker at that point "Sorry Miss LeTale, just a bit of warehouse banter" he muttered before quickly saying "Tony, we've had some trouble at Brown's place. It seems some punks came in and started to hassle some of the card girls"Tony's lipped moved into a thin line, clearly, he was displeased. Maria raised an eyebrow as she watched, interested in seeing him interact with someone who he wasn't anxious about."Tony?" Trigs voice came through again.
"I ain't got time for this sh*t, Trig. I've got to get Miss LeTale back to her mama's, I've got to go watch the handover of the Don's security. Can't somebody else handle it?" He grunted, clearly pissed off to be being interrupted, in front of Maria no less.Clearing her throat, Maria softly said "If you need to go handle something we can do tha--" but she was cut off by Tony raising a hand to indicate she should stop talking."Trig, if you can't deal with some punk-ass kids then what the f**k am I paying you for? Grab a buddy, teach them a lesson and quit harassing me when I'm on Don business" he spat at the phone before jabbing the 'end call' button."Look, I don't appreciate you trying to do me no favours--" he started, his voice still tense and raised as he spoke to Maria. Her eyebrow instantly arched "excuse me?" she started but he wasn't finished."I get that to you this is all a big game of playing pretend, but it's not. People die, people died Miss LeTale - your father is half vegetable in the fricking hospital and I've got a*sholes ringing me wanting their hand holding to punch a couple of kids? No, they need to learn to stand on their own two feet." Tony's face had become heated now, he was on a roll and he wasn't stopping. "I get that coming home is all a big inconvenience to you, I know we aren't as educated as you and that you feel like you're f**king untouchable but, big news flash, your Daddy thought the same thing and look where that got him"Maria's jaw had dropped, she could tell the guy was holding in some issues but when he exploded he really exploded. After taking a couple of seconds to recover, she narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't get to talk to her like that, he didn't get to act like she had no idea about the real world and he certainly didn't get to talk about her father's condition in that way.Around three weeks ago, there had been a big meeting at a secret location only known by its attendees. On account of an argument Tony had recently had with one of the other Capos, Maria’s Uncle Mario, he wasn’t in attendance. It was lucky for Tony depending on your outlook, unlucky for everyone else. It was clear there was a leak in the family somewhere because they were only about ten minutes into the meeting before there was an ambush. Shots had been fired and, thanks to the derelict building that they were meeting in, debris had flown everywhere. Don Damon had been pushed out of the way of the main fighting action by one of his brothers but in the process had suffered a near-fatal head injury which had landed him in the hospital fighting for his life. In an attempt to help his body recover, Don Damon had been placed into an induced coma and his daughter, as the only eligible heir to the business who wasn’t in the hospital had been immediately summoned and thrown into the deep end.
Sh*t she thought, the part about her father had triggered her a little and her eyes had a thin film of tears covering them. "Pull over the car," she said quietly.Tony scoffed at the suggestion, "We are making serious time here..." he began but she shook her head."Pull over the car right now or I swear to God, I will open this door and roll out" she shrilled, hand leaping to the door handle.In a swift moment, Tony pulled the car to the side of the road. Maria was out of it before the brakes were even on."Miss LeTale" Tony started 'F**k, f**k, f**k!' he thought as he went after her, stomping through the verge on the side of the road in her heels. "I'm sorry Miss LeTale I--"Maria stopped walking so suddenly that Tony's large, 6-foot frame bumped squarely into the back of her. "I'm sorry" he tried again.Maria put her hand on his shoulder, supporting herself as she removed her heels one by one. They were not a great accessory to have when trying to escape somebody."Who do you think you are?" Maria asked him quietly, when her shoes were removed, she dropped her hand from his shoulder. "Did you not consider for a moment that I maybe have a life back in England that doesn't revolve around dropping everything to be here?" she asked, squaring up to him as best she could at 5 foot 5. Her chest heaved with frustration and once again, Tony's eyes strayed downwards, flicking back up to hers the instant he realised.Tony gulped, he didn't know why he was struggling so much keeping his eyes on the prize, so to speak, with Maria. He was around attractive women all the time. "Sorry, I'm not used to working with family members that make me need a cold shower" he drawled at her, his eyes moving up to meet hers. He could feel his cock twitch ever so slightly. Down boy, he thought to himself. She was hella attractive, but she was most definitely not on the list for girls he needed to sleep with. He liked his life and he sure as well wasn't going to throw it away for chasing this skirt."Look, I'm sorry Miss LeTale--" Tony started, a sighing quality to his voice."Maria" she corrected him, rolling her eyes slightly."If you're going to be hounding me 24/7 then you better start calling me Maria." She offered her olive branch, her hazel eyes moving up to meet his."Well how about we start again?" Tony suggested, holding his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Maria, I'll try not to be an a*shole but I was raised in a mob" he offered, attempting to be light-hearted.Maria smirked a little and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too, Tony. I'll try not to be a bitch, but you should know I was raised to bite" she warned him, letting go and walking ahead to the car.Satisfied with their re-start, Tony let his eyes drift to her perk, 21-year-old behind. 'I'm absolutely f**ked.' he thought, mentally compiling a list in his head of who he could screw tonight to push Maria from his mind.As Maria walked back towards the car, she could feel Tony's eyes on her. 'Good', she thought, 'make him want me.' She felt life would be much easier if Tony was trying to keep her happy for his own, driven reasons.'Not that he's too displeasing to look at anyway', Maria smirked to herself as she looked over at him by the car. He wasn't a traditional, drop-dead gorgeous kind of guy. He was rough around the edges, tarnished with demons that Maria couldn't for the life of her imagine.From her younger years, Maria could vividly remember that excitement around someone new coming to town, or someone returning after years gone by. Everyone knew everyone in their local circles, so it had been no surprise to Maria when his eyes had lingered. She knew it was nothing more than an interest in the latest shiny visitor.That and she had learnt a lot more about hair and make-up since she left at 14. Whenever she had returned it had been a fam
As Tony's jaguar pulled up in front of the sleek-chrome fronted building with the neon sign blaring "Brown's" he let out a sigh, switching off the engine and wiping a hand down his face.'Another day, another pair of balls to burst',he thought to himself, reaching into the glove compartment and removing his trusted knuckle dusters. One swift punch with these should be enough to teach any fool a lesson.He caught sight of himself in his rearview mirror and arched his eyebrow, slowly turning his face from side to side as he examined himself as though for the first time in a long time. "You old dirty dog" he muttered to himself, shaking his head "Getting flustered over a 21-year-old crime princess" he scoffed, "You should be ashamed of yourself," he told his reflection with a laugh, opening the car door and climbing out.Girls like Maria LeTale didn't want guys like Tony Calcolo, not to mention he was over 10 years her senior. It was pathetic t
"What do you mean he isn't answering? Call him again" Maria sighed to the boy who was probably around her age she had found to be in charge of this security shift.They were in the entrance hall to the main house, Maria was dressed ready for tonight's meeting in a burgundy wrapped top over some figure-hugging black dress trousers. Killer heels, curled hair and red lipstick to exaggerate her Italian-American heritage were a must as well.It had been very easy for Maria to get frustrated with being back home. She felt like she'd been placed into a time machine the moment she'd gotten settled with a coffee in the lounge with her mother. Her mother had arranged for a date for her tonight - a date! Maria had flown in to help out with her comatose father and their family business not be matched up with a suitor like this was the 1950's."Maria, you are 21 years old and if this past week has taught us nothing, it is surely that you may have to step into you
You could have cut the tension with a knife after Tony spoke those words. Particularly the wordbabysitter spun around Maria's head."Babysitter?" Maria practically spat out, seeing red. Why did this man get under her skin so easily? Usually, she could brush off these kinds of remarks but every other time Tony opened his mouth, Maria ended up irked in some way."Look, Maria, I'm sorry you're in a pretty shitty situation, but I'm not your get out of jail free card when it comes to your mother" Tony sounded stern but was backtracking slightly, not wanting Maria to decide her father needed one less Capo on his team. "Maybe when you've been around the whole mafia situation a little longer--" he started before Maria interrupted."A little longer?" she asked quietly, letting out a fake laugh. "Oh please, Tony, tell me more about how hard it has been for you, volunteering to be part of the LeTale gang and all" she scoffed, glancing over and noticing
Tony arched his eyebrow as he looked over her face, her eyes catching the light as she looked up at him which made her appear to be more vulnerable."I just thought I would take this opportunity" he started, glancing over his shoulder suspiciously, "to reassure you thatno-one needs a reminder that you're all grown up now" he growled from deep within his chest, swallowing a little as he leaned down so he was inches away from her face, his eyes staring directly into hers, "I think I speak on behalf of the male community when I say: We have definitely noticed" he admitted. He spoke softly but firmly, giving him an air of confidence that was half charming and half arrogant.He went to move back, before his head dipped to near her ear, "But if you tell anyone I told you, they'll probably have me whacked, because someone is always watching, even when you're with me" he added, pulling back to standing and dropping her wrist.He gestured for
They made polite conversation as they ate dinner at a reasonable pace, once the bill arrived Tony took it and placed a couple of bills inside, including a rather generous tip."I will pay my own way, thank you," Maria told him, reaching into her purse and only pausing when Tony let out a deep chuckle. "What?" she asked."Nothing, if you so desperately want to pay for yourself you can do." he offered with a smirk to his lips, Maira eyed him warily before he added "Either way it's your family's money, technically" he pointed out, getting up and gesturing towards the door. "Shall we? Don't want to be late for your big meeting!"Narrowing her eyes slightly, Maria slipped a bill on top of Tony's and then lead the way out. Laughing and shaking his head, Tony followed her, enjoying the hypnotic movements of her behind for a few moments before jogging ahead to open the car door for her.As he slipped into the driver's side and started the engine he let out a small sigh. '
Outside Maria struggled against Trig’s rough hands as he practically had to force her into the car, his hand pushing her head into the car. As the sound of another gunshot sounded there was a brief freeze in the air, Trig glanced quickly back to the warehouse they had come from before seemingly remembering his current task and pushing Maria fully into the backseat of Tony’s Jaguar, sitting next to her and pulling the door shut quietly, hitting the lock button.“Excuse my language, Miss LeTale, but keep your damn head down if you want to live” he growled at her, seemingly fierce but his eyes kept flickering towards the warehouse as a worried look danced on his face.“He got shot and you just left him, what kind of person can do that?” Maria sobbed slightly, tear-stained streaks running down her cheeks. Trig’s brows knitted together as he looked over at Maria in disbelief. ‘This is who has been placed in charge of the family business, she is meant to be our ruthless lead
As they sped away from the warehouse, Tony could feel Maria’s tension surrounding the vehicle. He knew he had to take some control here, her Daddy would absolutely freak out if he had seen the way she had reacted to the gunshots in front of the men. Tony was so confident about Don Damon’s reaction he actually felt himself getting annoyed at the Don. He felt sorry for the beautiful brunette in the car next to him. She was barely 21 and had been thrown headfirst into a world she didn’t belong in or want to be a part of. He actually blamed the Don’s wife but the blame game would get him nowhere. There was no reason for Maria to be involved, she could have handled it but she felt above the situation. Tony rolled his eyes as he cleared his throat to break the silence.“Maria,” he started, drawing in a breath because he knew how well this was going to go down, “I know that what happened back there must have shocked you – and I completel