I buttoned up my blue high waisted jeans, and shrugged on a black bomber jacket over my white slightly cropped knitted vest. Antonio slipped on his black suit jacket and walked up behind me as I finished my makeup in the bathroom. " The guy we're going to see today isn't as calm and patient as I am," Antonio informed me. I looked at him, " he's not a fan of women, so don't piss him off," Antonio added. I smiled, " many people describe you as the mean, demanding type, and yet here you are with me, not killing me yet." Antonio grinned, " you're different, I can be patient around you." I shook my head, " you shouldn't." Antonio frowned, " why?" " Because," I sighed, putting my stuff back into my bag. " People may think that you're weak." Antonio pulled me back against his chest, " how you see me verses others will always be completely different." I looked at Antonio, " I care about your more than anyone else in my life." I stared into Antonio's green eyes, he was telling nothing but the truth.
" Okay, god, you don't have to get all sentimental," I said. Antonio chuckled, " are you ready yet or are you still drowning your face with makeup?" I shot Antonio a death glare, which only increased the smile on his face. " You don't need this shit," Antonio said rummaging through my makeup bag. " Your absolutely gorgeous without it." I rolled my eyes and sighed, walking out of the bathroom. " What?" Antonio called after me. I heard him chuckle from the bathroom before he walked into our bedroom. " Why do you wear that stuff?" Antonio asked me. " Because I need it," I answered. Antonio shook his head, " why cover up what's already beautiful?" I sighed and looked at him, " you don't have thousands of people judging you everyday. I walked past Antonio, his eyes followed me as I grabbed my shoes from my closet. " I understand my family doesn't really," Antonio said mid sentence before I cut him off. " You're perfect, okay?" I said. Antonio sighed and looked at me, " everyone worships the ground you walk on, but for me, I have to earn everything," I said. Walking up to me, Antonio pulled me into a reassuring hug. " You're perfect in every way to me, don't listen to what my family and others say, okay?" I rolled my eyes, I knew Antonio knew I rolled my eyes because he softly pinched my side. I jumped to the side and chuckled, Antonio kissed my forehead. " My family will come to appreciate you sooner or later," Antonio said as I stepped back from him. " You're going to be my wife soon enough, they're going to have to get used to you being around us and me," Antonio added. I sighed and folded my arms, " ready?" Antonio asked. " Yeah," I said calmly.
We were met downstairs at the lobby by ten of Antonio's guards. " Your cars outside and ready for you boss," a guard said walking alongside Antonio. Antonio nodded, he then looked at me and entwined our hands together. " Uh, what's she doing here?" A guard asked as we walked outside to the car. " She's coming with us," Antonio said not looking at the guard. The guard looked at me before looking back at the black SUV awaiting us. " It's not safe," the guard said. "Antonio stopped, I felt the muscles in his hand tense up. " She's coming with us, do I make myself clear?" Antonio asked sternly but calmly at the same time. The guard cleared his throat and nodded, " yes sir." I looked at Antonio who opened the door for me. Antonio looked at me, " It's fine, you're coming with us. Sooner or later you're going to be working alongside me with my business, it's better off of you start now." I eyed the guard who was standing behind Antonio, it was obvious that he didn't want me here.
- - -
I stared out the window as we drove down a dirt road, surrounded by immense trees. Thinking that we were lost, or accidentally took the wrong turn, the dirt road immediately turned into asphalt concrete. Within a blink of an eye, I was amazed to see a monstrosity of a house. My eyes wondered up as the house looked like a castle. Bushes held colorful flowers, trees swayed in the breeze. The car turned and parked in front of the house. Our doors were opened for us, Antonio walked over to my side and immediately took my hand in his.
" Stay by my side, okay?" Antonio asked. " Okay, what's the difference between this guy and your family?" I asked looking up at the house like castle. Antonio sighed, " he hates women, thinks they're useless. He kills for fun, mostly people who aren't in the mafia or do him wrong." I nodded and looked at Antonio, " he takes his job and business very seriously." I bit my lip, automatically remembering the dark and bloody things my father did to innocent people and people in other mafia gangs.
" Just, stay by me and don't say anything," Antonio said. " Yes sir," I sighed. The ten guards he drove with us in the car ushered us up to house. Antonio kept me close to him, five guards stood behind us as well as In front of us. " Does this guy have a family?" I asked as we walked up to the door. " He had a wife and three daughters," Antonio informed me. " So not much help for the whole son growing up and taking over dad's business right?" I asked. Antonio grinned, " right." A guard In front of us knocked on the door. For some reason, my stomach crunched up and I began to get butterflies. I exhaled deeply, " just stay by me at all times," Antonio whispered.
The door opened, Antonio's grasp around my hand tightened. " Mr. Brambilla," a guard said. His dark, cold eyes immediately shot at me. " And who is this?" The guard asked. I clenched my jaw, not wanting to seemed afraid.
Which, by what Antonio has said to me, I was beyond nervous.
" She'll be staying with us, with me," Antonio informed. The guard stared at me for what seemed like an eternity before looking back at Antonio. " Please, come in." The guard stepped aside and opened the door more as we all walked into the house. " This place isn't appropriate for women," the guard said closing the door. " Where is Mr. Agosti?" Antonio asked, ignoring the guards remark. " He'll be with us shortly," the guard said walking up In front of us. I looked at him, the guards eyes immediately averted over to me. " And you are?" The guard asked. I opened my mouth to answer, but Antonio beat me to it. " Ms. Galonos, I'm on a strict schedule, so If you don't mind getting Mr. Agosti, that would be great." The guard nodded, " you are a very busy man Mr. Brambilla." Antonio's eyes weren't calm and light as they always were when he was with me. Instead, they held darkness instead of happiness and joy.
" Please follow me," the guard said. We all followed him down a unlit hallway. I softly breathed in as a cold shiver slipped down my spine.
Talk about a warm welcoming.
We took several turns, if I got lost, I knew I wouldn't be able to find myself back to the main entrance. We stopped at a door, the smell of sweat, blood, and anger seeped through the door. " Mr. Agosti is in here?" Antonio asked staring at the door. The guard nodded, " but you came on a very busy day." The door immediately opened, I gasped in horror and tensed up as an old man sat in a chair. His face all bloody, having several gun shots in his face, chest, and other body parts. Antonio pulled my closer to him and whispered, " stay by me at all times." My lip quivered a little bit, but I bit my bottom lip to prevent it from doing so. A man in a dark blue suit looked up at us. A gun sat in one hand, blood covering his front and some of his face, this guy looked like the typical assassin in all of Italy. The guy immediately looked at me, I swore the blood in my face drained out of my whole body. " Mr Brambilla," Mr. Agosti said clearing his throat. About fifteen guards stood posted around the room.
If anything bad happened, we we're definitely outnumbered.
" I've missed working with you," Mr. Agosti said. He looked sown at his bloody, sweaty self. " My appearance isn't very welcoming, but I hope you all feel welcomed into my home." This man had the audacity to smile, blood stained his white teeth. My eyes couldn't help but wonder off to the obviously dead man slumped over in the chair a few feet from Mr. Agosti. " And, who is this?" Mr. Agosti asked. His voice cut through the silence. I looked at him, " You're a Galonos, aren't you?" Mr. Agosti asked tilting his head. I nodded, damn this guy had the ability to make your skin crawl. I stared at Mr. Agosti, Antonio looked at me and nodded, saying that it was okay for me to talk. " Yes, I'm a Galonos," I answered calmly. Mr. Agosti nodded and chuckled, " your father and I are best friends." I mentally scoffed, my father wasn't the type of person to have friends let alone best friends.
" We'll," Mr. Agosti cleared his throat and looked around. " How about I clean myself up, and we start work." A few guards walked up to Mr. Agosti and handed him a rag and a fresh suit jacket. " Take him out back," Mr. Agosti said, talking about the dead man in the chair. I watched as the body was taken out to the back of the house. Mr. Agosti whipped off all the blood from his face and hands, he slipped into a new suit jacket and nodded at the guards next to him that he was done. " Alright, Mr. Brambilla," Mr. Agosti said turning to us. " Shall we start?" Antonio nodded, for some reason I felt like something uncomfortable was about to happen... and I knew I was going to be the center of attention.
- - -
A briefcase was handed to Mr. Agosti, he set it on a desk and opened it. Several expensive guns were strapped into the briefcase, Mr. Agosti pulled out a silver gun and handed it to me. " Take it," Mr. Agosti said. I looked at the gun before looking at Antonio. " Take it," Antonio said softly. I looked back at the gun and grabbed it, it was heavy but at the same time it was light weighted. " Have you every used this gun before?" Mr. Agosti asked me. I examined the gun, " I trained with my father when I was a kid, I used this gun every time." Mr. Agosti nodded and smiled, he looked at Antonio. " Every man needs a women who knows about guns." Antonio stared at me, " what is she going to do with it?" Mr. Agosti looked at me, " shoot." I looked at him, " at what?" Mr. Agosti looked at a guard standing next to the door we entered in. " Him." I looked at the guard at the door, " you want me to shoot him?" My nerves boiled up, breathing began to get harder. " Yes," Mr. Agosti said. He looked at me, " unless you're scared." My jaw clenched, being scared was the last thing on my mind at the moment. I looked at Antonio, who just simply nodded at me to precede. I loosened up my shoulders and raised the gun so it was eye level with me. " Aim at his chest," Mr. Agosti ordered. My hands lowered about an inch, I closed on eye and studied the guards chest. " Shoot him," Mr. Agosti said. I took one hesitant breath in and pulled my finger slowly back on the trigger. The guard saw me, and flinched. " Don't worry, he was a bullet proof vest on," Mr. Agosti informed me. Within a blink of a second, I pulled the trigger back. I slightly jerked backwards as I shot at the guard. Mr. Agosti smiled and clapped his hand together, " she's a good one." I sighed and lowered the gun, my eyes still on the guard. I frowned when the guard stumbled backwards, grasping his chest. Red liquid began oozing out from him and covering both his hands. He choked on air as his eyes struggled to stay ajar.
My eyes widened as I realized the guard wasn't wearing a bullet proof vest. Blood pooled around him, his head dropped to the side as his dark brown dead eyes stared at me. I stared in horror was the dead guard sat slumped over on the ground. The only thing I could hear was Mr. Agosti clapping and laughing behind me. I slowly turned my head, my eyes full of disbelief as I stared at Mr. Agosti. " It's okay, I was going to kill him sooner or later," Mr. Agosti informed me. Antonio took the gun from me and handed it back to Mr. Agosti
My vision began to blur up, I realized I was crying about killing an innocent man I never knew.
Was he innocent?
" You said he was wearing a bullet proof vest," I said. Mr. Agosti sighed, " I must say, I didn't think you'd shoot him." My jaw slightly dropped at seeing Mr. Agosti so enlightened by my job at killing one of his guards. Antonio walked over to me and pulled me into his side, his arm wrapped around me. Antonio was the only person outside of my family who knew about all the trauma I went though without having to ask me. He kept me close to his body was my hands began to shake. " How many people have you killed?" Mr. Agosti asked me. " A few," I said, trying to sound calm and relaxed. Mr. Agosti nodded, " alright then, Mr. Brambilla, I'm ready to start business whenever you are." Antonio looked at me, I stared at the guard in horror as my breathing began to pick up. " Thalia," Antonio whispered to me. Mr. Agosti folded his arms and looked at me, I looked at him. " I'm fine," I said stepping away from Antonio, he instantly slipped his hand into mine. Mr. Agosti nodded, " let's start business."
- - -
Antonio had orders us food from the cafe, after today he didn't want us to go out to eat. I sat in bed in a white silk lace dress, zoned out, and staring at my hands. Antonio walked over to me, he only where his grey sweatpants. " Thalia," He said as he got into bed with me. Still zoned out, I stared at my hands. Antonio stared at me, when he touched my thigh I flinched back into reality. " I killed him," I said softly. " If he had a family, he'd never see his wife or kids again." Antonio sighed, " I killed him, and I didn't even know him," I added. The realization hit me, my breathing picked up as my eyes filled up with tears. " Oh my god," I said nervously. Antonio instantly slid his arm around my waist and pulled me into a tight hug. My body began to shake as the bloody imagine of the slumped over guard filled my head. " He said he was protected," I said as tears streamed down my face. " I killed him, h-he had a family." Antonio's grasp around my tightened, " I knew this would happen if I brought you." I clenched my eyes closed as the bloody slumped over guard stained my memory.
I took in several deep breaths before getting off Antonio and sitting up on my own. " Things like that are just going to get worse for you," Antonio said. " At some point, you're going to have to kill tons of people who you won't even know." I felt numb and cold, I hadn't killed anyone in who knows how long. Antonio stared at me, " are you okay?" I looked at him, " how many more people am I going to have to kill?" My eyes were red and slightly puffy, they stung from crying the whole ride home from Mr. Agosti house. " A lot," Antonio answered. I swallowed, " how many people deserve to die?" Antonio sighed, " nobody." I looked at the tv, suddenly I was filled with rage from the last trauma I got from the lessons with my father. " You don't have to kill people, I can do that," Antonio informed. I shook my head, I wasn't going to let the shy scared girl my father saw me as control me my whole life. " If they all want to see what I'm truly capable of, I'll show them." Antonio stared at me, I looked at him. " You don't have to do this Thalia," Antonio said softly. " If your family sees me as some shitty person who doesn't know a thing about being apart of the mafia, then I'll show them."
Even if it means killing thousands of people.