Antonio Rossi, Tony to just about everyone unless he was in trouble, had spent the majority of his life indebted to others. Not in the warm, fuzzy way that most people were indebted to their parents, but the decidedly more serious fashion of owing money to a bunch of sharks. Maybe it would have been different if his parents were actually around. Regardless, Tony had always been able to stay one step ahead of his creditors, begging, persuading, paying, intimidating, and ignoring whenever the situation called for it. But recently, his problems had been catching up to him. Tommy Vercetti, a local enforcer for the Forelli family, had held a gun on him and, for the first time, Tony wasn't entirely sure it was an intimidation tactic. There was also a dagger left in his door from the Russians... not to mention those Irish brothers getting more and more insistent about repayment. 

In short, it was time to do something about it. But for this particular scheme, he needed a partner. Ideally, a pretty woman who could generate sympathy. 

So he leaned on the bar with a grin as Ilaria was closing things down after a busy night.

"Hey... you free tomorrow? I could use a hand with something. Some decent money involved..."

"Oh? Well, sure! I can certainly use decent money," she said, grinning. She'd been pinching pennies to try and decorate her already-furnished apartment into something that more accurately suited her, but right when she seemed to be getting ahead, another utility bill showed up and she was back to square one.

"I've got tomorrow off...but of course you knew that. What's up? You moving or something? I can't haul couches very well but I can wrap like a demon!" She said over her shoulder as she finished cleaning down the bar and collecting her things. She'd gotten bold; no layers anymore...just her long overcoat tossed over her bikini top and sarong topping the boots she slid on her feet before coming around the bar to address Tony directly. She stood before him, turning her collar up and waiting to see what kind of assistance he might need.

Tony tilted his head and shot a wolfish grin at Ilaria, dropping his eyes for a moment before returning them to hers.

"Hold on, my brain just broke for some reason... now it's thinking about... just need to reset the..."

He smacked the side of his head with his palm before smirking and looking at her again and sighing, shaking his head. He sat down on the stool directly next to her and looked up into her eyes. 

"Ilaria, this pains me a great deal. Sometimes, we're forced to do things. Things that we hate ourselves for doing. It goes against everything we want... everything we stand for. It physically pains us... but it just needs to be done. Do... do you understand?"

Ilaria nodded, somewhat confused. Sighing, and still not breaking eye contact. Tony reached out and, lightly holding on to the edges of Ilaria's jacket, slowly slid it closed over her. He looked up at the ceiling like a man bereft, and eventually took a deep breath as he returned his hands to rest on his knees.

"Part of me will never forgive myself for that. But I need to be able to string more than two words together without being distracted. Thank you for understanding."

Finally dropping his mock-seriousness, Tony grinned again.

"Anyways, I have a plan to make a good amount of money and pay off a couple debts. It could be a small score, but it could be a big one. To be totally honest, I'd get a bigger cut of the profits. I've done a lot of the homework already. Found a perfect target out of about 15 different possibilities. But you'd still get a good amount out of this. Thousands, probably. To be totally upfront, you'll have to lie. And you're going to trick a guy out of a good amount of money, which could technically be perceived as stealing. But he's not a good man, and he can afford it. Nobody gets hurt. What do you think? Are you in?"

Her brow creased as she realized what he was asking. He wanted a...partner in crime. Her initial reaction would have been to be offended, but as he spoke, she realized that it really wasn't all that bad, and maybe the guy in question almost deserved it? 

She knew she was justifying. But...thousands.

Thousands.

The word ricocheted in her head like a pinball. It would take her years to make thousands. And for what? Lying to somebody? She lied to her parents every day by telling them that she was a waitress in a diner. She'd lied to John when she'd run out on him, telling him 'it's not you, it's me'. She'd lied to her sisters every time they'd asked her if they were fat, or if their kids were cute.

"Yeah, I'll do it. I'm in. No one gets hurt, right? That's what you said...?"

The club was almost entirely emptied out, so Tony flashed a smile and started explaining his plan, leaning forward excitedly.

"I've tried this a few times before, but never on this scale. Heh. Scale. Well, I'll explain. See, I bought this old violin. Well, not that old- it's a reproduction. But it apparently looks exactly like something called a Stradivarius. I had an expert, who's also getting a cut, fix it up for me so that it's a spitting image. Let me tell you, Ilaria... people go insane for these things. I guess there's only a few hundred of them. I'd say they're worth they're weight in gold, but it's more like their weight in diamonds. Someone just sold one at an auction in Baltimore for $14,000. Crazy, right?"

He ran a hand through his hair, becoming more animated as he spoke.

"I spent some time checking out all the pawnshops in the city, because we need a guy who has deep enough pockets and is familiar enough with the classical music scene to appreciate just how rare these things are. And I've got one: Paul Harris- he has a pawnshop in Bella Vista. In addition to running the pawnshop, he's also a loan shark who's squeezing the neighborhood dry. Definitely deserves to get taken down."

"So here's the plan. We dress you up to look like a woman who was born into serious money, but has fallen on some hard times. You bring in this violin that belonged to your grandfather, vaguely thinking it might be worth a lot of money- but ultimately accepting whatever he offers you to pawn it. Not sure if you've ever used a pawn shop, but you're not actually selling it, just putting up something as collateral for a loan. The idea is that people pawn things for cash, but then raise enough money to repay the loan and get their collateral back. So it's not like he'd legally own it by having you pawn it, got me?"

"So you walk in, spin this story about grandfather's valuable violin with so much sentimental value, and pawn it for whatever he offers you. If you feel like he's lowballing you, you can act offended but begrudgingly accept his offer since you're allegedly planning to get it back later anyways. Later on that day, I'll walk in all dressed up and practically orgasm when I see this violin. I'll persuade this guy that he has a Stradivarius worth thousands, and I'll offer him... I dunno... 10 thousand? 15 thousand? This guy is just enough of an expert that he can fool himself into feeling confident. The only issue is that he can't sell me the violin... because he doesn't own it. If he sells it, you could sue him for everything he's worth and he'd lose his whole business. So he'll call you on the phone number we give him to get you back in the store, and if I do my job he's going to want to buy this thing from you in the worst way. A good person, at this point, would let you know that you're sitting on a fortune. But this guy's such a greedy fucker that he's not going to tell you shit. He's just going to pay you whatever it takes to get that violin and then flip it for thousands of dollars."

Tony had been sliding closer and closer to the edge of his seat towards Ilaria as he spoke.

"So you go back in, and you just get all sorts of conflicted when he tries to by this. Really play up the sentimental value part, spin whatever kind of yarn you need to, but don't ham it up so much that he gets suspicious. I'm guessing that he'll have gathered as much cash as possible- and he's got a lot of it- before he calls you in. If this guy thinks he can instantly flip this thing for 10 or 15 thousand, who knows how much he'll try to pay you. It could be a thousand, even a few thousand... who the hell knows? But you get him to offer as much as possible- and then that's our score."

"Of course, Plan B is that we send you in there dressed like you are now, you slide open that coat, he immediately passes out, and I grab the cash register. But as entertaining as that would be, I'm thinking the original plan sounds more promising- at least financially."

Tony winked.

"Well... what do you say? Could be five hundred, could be a thousand, could be even more. And you get a third. If you can talk this guy up to three grand, you walk away with a thousand dollars. No one gets hurt, except a greedy asshole loses a bunch of cash."

His eyes shone with excitement as he looked up at Ilaria.

The next day, Ilaria was picked up by a cab. Tony was already in the backseat, and a violin case rested on the seat between them.

"May I...?  She asked, and when he'd nodded assent, she popped open the clasps and opened the lid. It creaked a bit, only adding to the presumed age of the piece inside. 

Lifting it out, she examined it carefully, noting the faint dings and scratches, the three different woods used to manufacture the thing, and, of course, the bogus labelling. 

She'd been running her fake lines all morning as she'd dressed, had even squeezed out a tear or two as she'd donned her best church dress. It was an older dress, but had been tailored specifically to her and presented as a gift by her mother a few years back. Fortunately it still fit, she had mused as she twisted her hair up into a French knot and applied some makeup. A few pieces of her best jewelry had completed the look.

Now, as they pulled up to the curb near the shop, she opened the door and began to get out. Tony grabbed her arm.

"You sure you know what to do?"

"Yes I'll be fine."

"Because if you're not ready, we can go have coffee first, and you could practice on me..."

"I'll be fine, geez!" She said, patting his cheek playfully and exiting the car. She took a moment to gather herself, then walked inside the pawnshop.

There were very few people inside at this hour, which made things simpler. Harris was easy to spot by Tony's description, and as she gripped the violin case to her chest like it was a life preserver, she adapted a look of woe as she approached him slowly.

"Help you?" 

"No. Yes. I mean, if I don't gather some cash immediately, I'll lose my home. My husband, I lost him at war, and-"

""Lemme see it."

Uh oh. Okay, then. Ilaria placed the case gently on the counter and spun it towards Harris, who immediately opened it and peered inside. He had an amazing poker face, she noted. For the first time, she began to wonder if she'd fail. Taking a long breath, she began. 

"Granddaddy's. He used to play it all the time when I was growing up. See that tiny scratch there, next to the chin rest? I whacked it good with the bow....on accident, of course, children simply don't know how to handle fine instruments...but he didn't whip me. He just played me another song," she said, managing to pull off both dreamy- and misty- eyed, simultaneously. 

Harris, however, was paying her no mind. 

"Hundred bucks."

"Wh- what? It's worth ten times that, surely!"

"Hundred bucks, take it or leave it, lady."

Her jaw worked in righteous indignation before she spit out her next sentence.

"Well...fine! But I'm not selling it to you. Just a loan, or pawn, whatever it is you call it. Once my husband's death benefits come, I'll-"

"You got two weeks, lady. Here's your cash, and here's your ticket. Lose the ticket, you lose the violin," he said, closing the case and carrying it away to the back room. Ilaria was left standing there dumbfounded. Hopefully she'd done it right, she thought as she gripped the notes in her hand and walked out into the cool morning air.

A wise man once said that the waiting is the hardest part. Tony was thinking something similar while sitting in a coffee shop absentmindedly drumming on the table and skimming the morning paper. He just had to trust that Ilaria would get the job done. Despite his attempts to stay calm, his heart jumped every time the bells signaled the opening of the door. After a few false alarms, his eyes flicked up to meet Ilaria's. His face was expressionless, searching- but when she smiled, he returned the grin tenfold. 

A few days later, Tony walked into the pawnshop. His normal routine. For the last couple weeks, he'd been popping in semi-regularly and dropping some hints about who he seemed to be: an educated musician on the lookout for instruments. He'd even purchased an oboe a few days ago to more accurately lay the groundwork. When he walked into the shop, he greeted Paul Harris as a regular customer would. The few minutes he spent browsing around the store were calming to Tony. Fortunately, Harris had the violin on display. Even if it wasn't for sale yet, it could still drum up potential business in a couple weeks. He might have even put it out there to lure the musician who'd been stopping in lately.

He felt himself focusing, preparing for the big move. When some time had passed, he strolled by the case with the violin. Lights. Camera. Action. A sudden double take, like noticing a beautiful woman. He pictured Ilaria. A slightly furrowed brow, curious. A tilt of the head as he walked over. The stare- seeming like he was "zoning out" when he was more truly plugged into his surroundings than ever. A whispered "My God..." And finally, the patience. Waiting, waiting, waiting until Paul Harris noticed him. And then the pawnbroker was standing at the other side of the case, smiling. Tony half-spoke, half-whispered.

"May I... see it?"

Harris ungently removed it from its case, while Tony gently accepted it, running his fingers over it lightly, turning it, examining it, as his breathing became slightly louder, quickened.  Based on Harris's eyes, the pawnbroker was on the hook. Tony, after several moments of pregnant silence, spoke.

"Mr. Harris... do you know what this is?"

"Uh, a violin. Is it a good one?"

"If I am correct... and I surely am... then this is one of the greatest violins ever made. A Stradivarius. Surely you know the name?"

Paul Harris nodded, unsteadily. It did ring a bell. He leaned forward as Tony continued to speak.

"The greatest craftsman of musical instruments that mankind has ever seen. You can tell not only from the label, but it the particular type of wood- do you see this coloration here? I would bet my life that this is a Stradivarius. There are only a few hundred of these, and they... Mr. Harris, how much do you want for this?"

Harris eyes narrowed.

"How much is it worth?"

"Mr. Harris, it is priceless. Priceless. But- well, I will not lie to you, for we are both honest men, and I have no need to hide this from you, as you could easily find it for yourself. But a violin very much like this one- and this is perhaps in better condition, when properly restored- sold for $14,000 last year in Baltimore. How much do you want for this?"

Harris was shook, but he didn't let it show.

"$14,000. No, 15 thousand. You said it was better."

Tony let the numbers hang out there for a moment, gazing at the violin with an expression of wonder.

"I know a man who would pay you what you ask. He would pay you that, at least. He is a collector of beautiful instruments, and this would be his crown jewel. But-"

Tony read the tag at the end, which indicated that it was pawned.

"But this is not yours to sell, Mr. Harris. May I propose? I will go and speak to my friend and have him prepare the necessary funds. He'll need to inspect it himself, of course, but... I am certain, this will happen. This will change his life  in a wonderful way. What a blessed bounty... but, what you must do is talk to the person who truly owns this. Perhaps tell them what they have here, for they surely are not aware of its true nature. If you can get them to agree to split the money, since you will be providing the buyer, then this will be a great blessing for everyone involved."

Harris nodded, already scheming, as Tony handed back the violin. This time, Harris cradled it like a baby. 

"I will return tomorrow, Mr. Harris. Make your preparations."

Ringing his hands together in excitement, the "musician" left the store. He heard Harris on the phone calling in Ilaria before the door was even closed. Tony was grinning before his feet hit the sidewalk. Now it was up to Ilaria to finish the deal.

Ilaria was sitting at home with her coffee when the call came. She toyed with the fox statuette while listening to Harris' barely contained excitement. Perhaps he wasn't the best poker player after all. A few stutterings and shocked silences later, Ilaria hung up and smiled. Another church dress and another mournful expression practiced in the mirror and she was in the back of another cab, sitting across from a very excited Tony who pressed her with questions, scenarios, and advice that finally had her physically turning to address him directly.

"I know I'm a novice, but you have to just trust me," she smiled. She swore she could see dollar signs dancing behind his eyes. The thrill was contagious, she had to admit. Trying to parlay it into the countenance of a stressful, but perhaps hopeful, widow was relatively easy as she stepped out of the cab again and entered the pawn shop.

Harris didn't waste any time approaching her this time. He didn't even bother retrieving the violin from the display case, so confident was he in his ability to close this deal.

"Ah, there you are! Ready to make some money? I'm prepared to offer you...five hundred dollars!"

Blink. "Surely you jest. I asked for a thousand, and that was BEFORE you had an interested buyer. I'm not stupid, Sir, despite the hair color," she said, extending the ticket towards him, insulted look firmly in place.

He reddened a bit at that, not appreciating this dame one bit. But he could still make a mint if he made the deal and got her out of here before Tony showed back up with his man. Gambling that the violin could possibly be worth even more, he relented.

"A thousand, then. Not a penny more, and only because you're in a tight spot," he said, trying to remind her that she needed the money more than the instrument.

"You know what? Let's just forget the whole thing. If that violin is worth a lot of money, I'd be better off putting an ad in the newspaper and selling it myself. I don't need a middleman, or the grief he brings me," she said, her voice trembling and her eyes beginning to water. She shook the ticket at him again.

"My violin, let me have it."

Harris stood there motionless, the big payday dwindling away before his eyes. He slowly retrieved the violin while trying to think of another route to take, but coming up with none, he set it on the counter and accepted her ticket and cash return, along with the measly interest he'd earned from the transaction. Ilaria began to panic then, but what could she do but ride it out? Maybe they could try elsewhere...another pawnshop...something. She grabbed the case and headed briskly for the door, but as she reached for the handle, Harris broke.

"FIVE THOUSAND!" 

Her grip on the door was the only thing keeping her vertical as her vision swam. And then she smiled.

Tony had been pacing outside like an expecting father outside the delivery room. His hands were plunged into his pockets and he performed the same solitary walk back and forth outside the store- though out of view, he could still hear Harris's voice. God, the man was desperate. Tony could only blink as he heard the "five thousand" through the open window. Holy shit. He was hoping to pull two or three thousand... but this? He didn't even know Harris would get access to that much cash, but he must have...

He leaned back against the wall for support with his eyes closed, savoring the moment. 

A few minutes later, Tony saw Ilaria walk out the door carrying a briefcase. She was thrilled; he could see it in her eyes, but despite the fact that she seemed like she was close to floating, she was keeping her cool. Tony gave her a smile so wide and powerful that it was like he'd been plugged into an outlet. He had eyes only for her, not noticing the car in the road near them that had started to slow down.

"Ilaria. My God. I could kiss you right now. I could-"

He saw the pistol protruding from the window a second before it fired, but he was frozen and could only stand there in confusion as the first shot rang out, blasting a chunk of brick above his head. He was in motion before the second and third shots crashed into the wall, tugging her down to take cover behind the car parked on the curb. He heard a woman scream- Ilaria or a passerby? Unable to get any more clear shots, the car squealed away- and Tony was moving quickly as well, leading Ilaria into an alley away from the pawn shop and Paul Harris. He spoke over his shoulder as they moved.

"You're okay? Not hit? Good. Me neither. Just- hold on."

Emerging from the other end of the alley, he emphatically hailed down a cab, which he climbed into with Ilaria. He held her hands, resting on the briefcase and, after barking orders at the driver to take the to The Sand and the Sea, looked straight into her eyes.

"Ilaria. Look at me. It's okay... they were just trying to scare me, I think. This is my fault, and I'm sorry you were there. I'm really sorry."

He took a deep breath; she looked like she wanted to say something, but she seemed content to let him say his piece.

"I'm going to finish this debt. Today. There's one move I can make...  but I'm just sorry that you were there to get wrapped up in my bullshit. Are you okay?"

He rested a hand on her shoulder, looking at her intently. Personally, he would have been laughing if he was by himself- shitting on Vercetti for his aim. But... he was rattled. Not because of what had happened to him; it had, unfortunately, happened before. But the thought of Ilaria catching a bullet for his own stupidity? That was different. It was time to talk to Angelo and finish this. But first- Ilaria.