You could have cut the tension with a knife after Tony spoke those words. Particularly the word babysitter 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 his jaw was set in a way that told her he firmly believed in what he was saying. "A little longer? 21 years! I was in it before I even knew I was in it!" she muttered. "I am sent away from my friends, from my family, because my Daddy is involved in some war I knew nothing about. They literally sent me to the other side of the world" she shook her head as she spoke, her hands frantically moving about as they did when she truly felt enraged. "So don't come telling me I need to be in the situation longer. I am the situation, wherever I go, whatever I do, I am the situation" she told him incredulously, rolling her eyes before looking out the window, arms folded across her chest defensively. "I'm fed up of being forced to feel like I'm a child around here, babysitters, scheduled playdates. I feel like I need to make a public announcement so people notice I'm an adult now"Tony listened to her words, his eyebrow arched but his head engaged. He could see her point, he could appreciate that she had no choice in the matter, whereas he had jumped in with both feet as soon as he was able. He sighed a little, glancing at the car clock. It was a little before 5. Too early for their meeting - he certainly didn't want to be a sitting duck parked outside the meeting place. "You hungry?" he asked her, making a turn in the car.
Maria, feeling unheard, pursed her lips before saying "I am but I think I'm meant to be meeting with some man named...Ricardo? Maybe?" she muttered, she couldn't say she had been listening to the details particularly. Tony smirked and shrugged his shoulders, pulling up outside a restaurant. It wasn't very big at all, it was called "La Dolce" and clearly a cutesy, family-run business. As he turned off the engine, he hopped out of the car and went and opened the door for her, becoming accustomed to the routine quickly.Maria glanced at the restaurant as the car door was opened, stepping out slowly as she looked it over as though trying to work something out."This isn't run by 'the family'" he told her, "Believe it or not there are some businesses in town your father doesn't own" he teased her in a dry voice.His teasing left Maria with a small smirk of her own on her red, painted lips, beginning to walk towards the entrance when Tony grabbed her arm and, kind of roughly, pulled her into the alleyway beside the restaurant.Her back pressed against the cool brick wall of the alleyway, Tony's grip tight around her wrist still as he loomed in front of her."Tony!" Maria gasped at the suddenness of his movements, at the rough way he had handled her and demanded her attention in such a manner.Tony's other hand was flat against the brick, next to her head, supporting his weight as he leaned over her. Essentially trapping her slightly, though he hadn't quite realised this - he hadn't thought any of this through and it was definitely a spur of the moment, regret in five minutes, type of action. Maria's heart was hammering against her chest, looking up at his tense and firm posture. She hadn't quite appreciated how tall he was before, or how strong he seemed even when he was just wearing a shirt and not a particularly tight one at that. Trying to regain her authority (in theory) and composure in the situation she said his name again, failing in her attempt to cover up the way her body was reacting so fiercely to his behaviour."Tony" she breathed, her dark eyes lifting to meet his as her chest rose and fell with adrenaline.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
Maria followed behind Tony, her eyes darting around as she took in her surroundings. She waited patiently as he spoke in hushed tones to the bulky doorman. His eyes slid over Maria greedily, and it made her feel a little uneasy.“Keep your eyes to yourself, my friend” Tony growled, placing his hand on the other man's shoulder and patting him as he ushered Maria inside the door he held open for her. Immediately, the world seemed to darken with only a dim glow from various red lamps around the room and the lights at the bar. This was one of her father’s more respectable places but was certainly still not the bright lights she was used to back home. An attractive waitress came over to show them to their table, seating them at the back of the club. “I’ll take a whiskey on the rocks and… what will you have?” he asked Maria, whose attention had been on looking around the room.“Hm? Oh, I’ll have a gin and tonic pleas
As the pair sat quietly in Tony’s car, Maria fiddled with the hem of her blouse as she bit her bottom lip. She felt very much like she had been ‘told off’ by Tony and wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to spend the night at his place. However, she also didn’t want to spend the night jumping at every little noise because she would be lying if she said the shooter hadn’t scared her.Tony was a very relaxed driver, once you’d driven with enemies trying to put bullets through your windows everything else felt like a breeze. He could feel the tension radiating from Maria, she was nervous and he couldn’t think of a single thing to say that would make her feel better. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to touch you, just sounds suspicious’, Tony reminded himself, driving to the outskirts of the city. He needed to live in a very precise location. It was close enough to the LeTale’s estate that he could b
Tony chuckled; she was taunting him he was almost sure of it. “You are sleeping in my bed, I am sleeping on the sofa” he confirmed, his fingers lazily scratching across his chest as he watched her laugh to herself whilst she sipped at her drink. Shaking his head, he headed into the bathroom to begin his nighttime routine. Maria sipped at her tea as her eyes roamed his apartment. There weren’t many photographs at all, as she bent down towards one on a shelf in the corner, she saw him with an elderly woman. Tony must easily be in his 20s in the photo and had his arm proudly around this woman. The woman was smiling but Maria’s expression softened as she examined it closely. The woman was smiling but there seemed to be a sadness behind her eyes.“That’s my Grammy” Tony’s voice startled Maria as he spoke behind her, she had been caught snooping and had the good grace to at least look embarrassed. “She looks…” Maria started, not finishing her sentence because if he was disp
Tony stood there for way too long, his hand hovering over the handle and his mind working against what his body was fighting for him to do.‘Do not sign your death warrant because someone young and pretty fluttered their eyelashes at you’ his internal voice scoffed at him. Tony’s hand fell away from the handle, his ears couldn’t even pick up Maria’s breath anymore and he suspected that she was holding it. ‘Not worth dying for’ could be his new internal motto he bitterly smirked to himself as his large hand wiped down his face and he let out a sigh, heading off for a cold shower in the main bathroom.Inside the room, Maria had indeed held her breath when she heard movement outside the door, her body tingling and begging for her to continue to push her over that pleasurable edge. Had he heard her? How absolutely mortifying. After a few minutes she heard his loud sigh and his feet pad down the hall, shortly followed by the sound of the bathroom extractor fan beginning to whirl. Maria’s h
Tony nodded, his shoulders tense as he tried to hold himself from her whilst…her mind caught up? He wasn’t even sure what that fully meant but he knew it was important to respect her decision.“Hey, you take all the time you need” he told her, giving her a quick wink as he sat back, picking up his wine just for something to do.Maria smiled at his willingness to just press pause so quickly, though mentally scolded herself for applauding him on giving her basic body autonomy. “I thought we couldn’t have more wine” she teased, watching him gulp from his glass.“No-one is questioning my decisions, there is not one person whose going to ask me if I was willing. They will definitely just assume” he chuckled.“How rude of them” Maria smirked as he drained his glass. Her heart was still hammering against her chest, she didn’t know how to explain to this gangster that she didn’t like to rush things. That she may be attractive but that didn’t mean she’d been bed hopping since she became of ag
Tony’s lips were gentler than would be expected as they moved slowly with Maria’s soft ones. His hand had moved to cup her neck and a shiver ran down her spine in appreciation for the gesture. As her hands moved to his broad shoulders, they lightly glided to the nape of his neck, her fingers lightly tracing small circles there. She felt lost in the kiss as their lips moved together, forcing herself not to move her body against his in her current straddled position. She was becoming more and more sure that if she did, she’d find out just how much Tony was enjoying the kiss as well but she didn’t want to lower the tone of the moment.Tony let out a low, soft groan in response to her fingers tickling the back of his neck and though he wanted to do far more, he pulled back, his eyes instantly moving to meet hers. He didn’t want to push things with her, she wouldn’t be the first pretty, young woman to be seduced by the mafia’s bad boy persona and he didn’t want Maria to regret her actions.
Maria took the glass of red that Tony poured for her and looked at him expectantly.“So you saw warning signs…” Maria prompted Tony with an arched eyebrow as he sat himself in a nearby chair with his own wine glass. He was on the edge of his seat and clearly nervous, Maria couldn’t decide if that was a sign he was being honest or not.“Warning signs” Tony muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt on trial and he wasn’t confident if he was defending himself for Maria’s affections or for his place in the LeTale family.“ Eve was…really attentive. She would remember lots of details about what I’d said to her and then occasionally, she would say something that I didn’t think I had said to her” Tony explained, taking a sip of his glass then setting it down as he got into the flow of his story. “But the couple of times I called her out on it, she made me think I was the crazy one”“She gaslit you?” Maria asked and Tony shrugged his shoulders simply. These young folk and their slang
Maria’s heart was pounding and she was truly in overdrive as she leant against a small pillar on the dock, awaiting Tony to appear. Her eyes glimmered slightly with tears she refused to shed as thought about what had just taken place. Hand self-consciously covering her cut cheek, she felt lost and alone. Her mind was racing over what had just happened, how could she trust Tony after this? Frankie had mentioned his wife but not that she was from the Luca family. Did her father know and would she need to be the one to rat on him once he woke up?As Tony steps out into the cool air from the heated yacht, his eyes land on Maria, leaning against a small pillar on the dock and waiting for him. He noticed the way her eyes were cast downwards as she hid her cut and his heart constricted at the idea of her hurting.“Maria” he started softly but she just rotated herself 90 degrees away from him. “You did really well in there” he told her as though she hadn’t moved away. “Can I take a look at yo
“It’s Eve Calcolo actually”Her words reverberated around Maria’s head as she raised an eyebrow slightly. Frankie had told her he was married, so why did this still surprise her? Why did seeing this gorgeous specimen of a woman in front of her make Maria’s inside curl up in jealousy? Suddenly this yacht, that Eve had just said she honeymooned on, seemed to have a thousand secrets. Newly wed promises would have been whispered to each other on that couch, fingers would have laced over breakfast at this table, their eyes shining brightly in the after effects of enjoying their wedding nights together. All with a man who merely hours before had Maria pressed against the side of a building ready to kiss her, who had been prepared to shoot a man because he’d almost had that privilege. “Oh, Mrs Calcolo” Maria said with a kind smile. She could tell Carlos was practically bouncing as he brimmed with excitement at the prospect of either Maria or Tony slipping and showing them that they had inde
The door opened and the Luca brothers both entered the room, striding over to the small dining table and gesturing to Maria and Tony to take a seat. Maria moved, trying to appear confident and un-shaken by the events of the day. Just knowing that Tony had been spooked by something set her even more on edge though. Tony followed and sat down opposite Maria, hoping being in her direct line of sight would play to their benefit somehow.“Isn’t it nice to just be able to sit and eat and meet without one of the buffoons waving a gun around?” Carlos conversationally asked Maria as he sat down next to her. Whilst Maria did her best not to bristle at having him beside her, Tony felt relieved. He’d much rather Carlos be sat next to her than his much larger brother.“I think it would be much nicer if one half of the dining party weren’t armed when the other wasn’t” Maria noted, arching an eyebrow at the slimmer brother who let out a short laugh, slapping the table.“Is she always this hilarious?
The sensory deprivation of the cloth bag was disorientating Maria as the car rallied through the city, going God knows where. She could hear gun shots, mostly firing from the car she was in. Instantly, Maria knew it was because they knew she was in there. The odd swerve of the car told her that whichever of the LeTale soldiers were chasing them had been ordered to be cautious of shooting at the vehicle Maria was travelling in.She was breathing quite quickly, trying not to go into full blown panic mode but they had been driving at least 15 minutes and she still had no clue whether the body next to her was alive or not, whether it belonged to Tony or someone else. She should have shot Ricky when she had the chance, Carlos seemed much easier to evade. Now was the time to gather herself, she had to be strong, she was going to have to negotiate herself out of this mess. She stiffened sharply as she felt the body beside her shuffle a little and then she felt it, the lightest touch from a
“Most definitely this one”Maria’s breath haltered slightly at his words as a slight blush spread across her cheeks. She felt…giggly. That was the last thing she wanted to be considered as, a foolish young giggly girl. Tony’s playful attitude towards her, tinged with the danger she knew he could cause, had Maria wanting to prove just how grown up she was. Her mind strayed to that first day when he’d told her that no-one needed reminding she was all grown up, her heart beating a little faster. Would they pick up where they’d left it earlier once they were in his apartment? Shaking her head she realised Tony had stopped the car and was holding the door open for her.“Miss LeTale” he said politely and in an almost clipped voice as she started to gracefully slide out the car. Her brow creased slightly, why the sudden drop in temperature and pick up of her title? Tony’s light eyes looked into hers, with purpose, as she caught his gaze and she realised they weren’t alone. Someone was here
Tony stayed silent until he heard Maria get in the car, looking down on Jerry who was lulling in and out of consciousness. What was it about Maria and not wanting violence, didn’t she realise the business they were in? Didn’t she understand what Jerry had been hinting at?“You’re f**ked” Jerry spluttered, blood in his mouth as he did so yet he still managed a bleak laugh. “I ain’t never seen you look at someone in that way,” Jerry coughed through his laugh, “He will kill you Tony” the man warned him gravely.Tony tensed slightly, his brow furrowed as he looked towards the door where Maria had left moments before.“It was a slip” he told Jerry gruffly, “I’m not an idiot, I know shes off limits. She’s just so damn interesting… not to mention beautiful and she had a rough night, shes hurting” Tony grumbled in an explanatory way, standing up from his position of straddling Jerry to hold him to the ground.“Are you going to tell him?” he asked Jerry point blank, his hand resting on his gun