The Dancer and the Don | ✔️

Chapter 15

"Everyone," Nathan answered in confidence. He hadn't even lifted his eyes off the floor.

"You've all talked about this?" Tony prodded. Nathan chose not to respond verbally and nodded his head once again. Tony scoffed and waved him out of the room. Now his employees had been gossiping about him? That kind of talk behind his back could lead to someone threatening his position. They knew better than to do that.

For the first time in a long time, Tony wished his parents were here. They weren't the sweetest people in the world, but they gave damn good advice and it usually worked out in the end. If only he could ask them now.

"Sir?" Why was Nathan still here?

"Yes, Nathan? What is it?" Tony barked. Nathan didn't flinch and probably never would.

"I'd like to give you advice, Sir," Nathan remarked. This wasn't unusual, Nathan giving Tony advice, but this topic was sensitive. Tony narrowed his eyes at Nathan but motioned for him to continue. "If you'd just sit here for a half hour, hour tops, thinking about how your decision to keep this a secret from her has ruined her life, then go apologize for it, I think that will really mean a lot to her."

Jeez, Nathan was full of monologues today. Tony waved him out of the room, and this time, Nathan followed his instructions.

Alright, this couldn't be too hard right? Where had they started?

********

"Excuse me! Excuse me, Sir!" Fran shouted. She pushed through the throngs of people on the sidewalk, trying to run to the man who had left his wallet on one of the tables at the cafe she worked at. It was a nice wallet, and when Fran had opened it up to find an I.D. she was met with a wad of hundred dollar bills.

It was obvious the man shouldn't leave this wallet.

"Sir!" Several men turned around to face her but she just continued to push them aside with a scowl. A very nice black card was idling by the sidewalk and she almost screamed bloody murder when the man began to make his way towards the car.

Almost as soon as he' d gotten in the car, Nathan started to pull away from the curb. Tony insisted coffee was the one thing he could get himself  in the mornings, but they were cutting it close this morning. Tony was going to be late to a meeting he scheduled, and it didn't take a genius to realize how bad it would make him look if he was late.

Tony watched Nathan begin to turn the wheel, and almost coughed up the coffee in his mouth when something made a loud thud on his door. Nathan immediately ripped of his seatbelt and jumped out of the car, hand on his waistband.

Tony couldn't help but grin at the training that was coming in handy.

When Nathan began to argue with whoever—or whatever—it was that had hit them he slammed the car door shut. Tony took another sip of his coffee, looked out the heavily tinted window, then sighed.

He was going to be late. Great.

Tony couldn't help but roll the window down the slightest bit to try and hear some of the conversation.

"—much this will cost?" It was Nathan's voice he heard above all the others. "The price of damages will cost much more than this wallet!"

"I didn't know," he heard a guilty voice murmur, "I just wanted to return the wallet. I kept trying to catch up with him to give it back. Here, I'll give you my phone number and insurance to settle the damage."

Tony couldn't resist lowering his window until he could see out of it. Nathan was standing with his arms folded, glaring intensely at a small girl holding a wallet out with shaking hands. That was his wallet. Where had she gotten it? Was she a pickpocket?

"Nathan," he called as he stepped out of the car, "leave the poor girl alone. We're going to be late." Tony turned to the girl. "I'll take my wallet, please."

The young girl handed him his wallet without any other response then wiped her hands down her jeans. She was nervous. He smiled.

Nathan stepped back into the car, but still kept a watchful eye on Tony. That was his job, and he was going to suspect everyone—even this young girl who seemed to be telling the truth.

"I'm sorry about him," Tony addressed, watching as her eyes moved anywhere but him. This girl was amusing.

"I'm sorry about your wallet," she murmured back, "and your car." It was then that Tony noticed the sizable dent right where the passenger side backseat was. So it was her that had run into the car. Tony could barely keep himself from laughing.

"It's quiet alright,..."

"Francesca," she supplied, "but everyone calls me Fran."

"Fran," he said with a grin, "how about coffee tomorrow morning?"

********

She'd thrown herself at his car, he thought with a grin, just to give him back some pocket money. At least she hadn't thrown herself in front of the car.

Slowly, as Tony thought more about their relationship, he realized that he had slowly pushed away anyone she'd ever had. While her family was her own doing, rightfully so, everything else had been because of him. She wasn't able to keep up with friendships because of her busy schedule, and any time she wasn't dancing she was with him.

He was the reason she didn't have anyone to go to. Tony gulped as that thought set in.

Her career was the only place she was able to have friendships because she saw them so often, but even then he'd ruined that for her. She had no career to go back to, and people she considered her friends were dead because of him.

How could he live with himself?

Nathan had suggested Tony really think about this, but all it had done was put him in a depressed state. How was his wife still in this house? He was surprised she hadn't packed her shit and left a long time ago. It was what he would have done.

He didn't deserve her. Tony didn't deserve the angel that was his wife a single bit. Why was she still here?

He'd trapped her financially. The thought almost made him cry. He hadn't meant to do it on purpose, but she didn't have any savings and he'd ripped her career away from her.  How was he still alive? Fran surely should have killed him by now. He didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve to be alive.

"Tony?" Came a voice and a quiet knock on the door. He couldn't do it. He couldn't keep her trapped here.

"I'm so sorry, Fran," Tony mourned, "but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

********

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