Chapter 2

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.