Jay popped open a pack of cigarettes. The pack looked exactly like a pack of Lucky Strikes, but these were made in Mexico for less that 2% of the price of a real pack of Lucky Strikes. Jay pulled one out and placed in his mouth and lit it, he took a long drag and smiled as he exhaled the smoke into the cool night air. It was just about as close as it could get to the real deal, especially considering the prices. He flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground after he finished his smoke break, then jumped back into the truck and started the engine.

The large military cargo truck contained nearly 100 crates of the fake, illegally imported cigarettes and it was Jay's task to protect and deliver the shipment. He carried his 1911 in his jacket and a Thompson sub-machine gun tucked behind the passenger chair. He drove for nearly an hour before pulling up to the first stop. He needed to pick up his boss who was sure to be out any minute. He parked the truck in front of a very luxurious house, the house he was told to wait in front of.

He honked the horn twice as instructed and began to wait. He wasn't sure where else he had to go tonight, but it wasn't his job to. It was just his job to drive and protect. It was someone else's job to determine where all of this product would end up. He re-adjusted the mirrors to the truck and jumped out of the truck to give the cargo another once over.

Luna made it her number one priority, once she got out of bed, to get dressed and ready for the special errands she had to run today with a new crew member. Today was the first day of them working together and she wanted to assure him that he was in good hands. Also, Luna wanted to observe his work ethic. Once she was dolled up and ready to go, Luna took a peek from the front window as she used her index finger to open the curtains a little bit. She noticed a large vehicle - probably containing the shipment to be delivered to her clients. The associate she would be working with went by the name 'StJames' and she quickly took a look-over of him. 

Luna didn't know what to expect of him yet, as the only interactions they had were in the headquarters. Even then, they would only pass by each other and exchange a friendly smile. She stepped outside, locking the front door after. Luna pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger, the headache reminding her of last nights drunk escapade. Luna took her hands away from her face finally and straightened out her dress. Her heels making a 'clank' sound as she made her way to her partner. 

"Hey, thanks. Lets not waste any more time now." She smiles. 

Jay closed the flap to the truck and then looked over as he heard the distinct sound of heels approaching. He spotted a lovely woman walk over to him and inform him that they needed to get going. He nodded and ran over to open the passenger door and help her into the truck.

"Yes ma'am, I can assure you I'll get us where we need to go safe and sound."

He then shut the door and ran over to his door, jumped in, slammed the door shut and started the truck. He looked over to her and smiled.

"I've got a list of addresses and the amount of crates that we need to deliver, but I've never been to these places before. Would you mind telling me about the clients as we drive to them."

He gave the pistol in his jacket a pat and grinned.

"Just so I know what to expect and whether or not I'll need to use this thing to bail us out of some trouble." Pointing to the list he read off the first name. "Can you tell me anything about Mrs. Angeline Rose?"

He kept his eyes on the road and his mind on ensuring that he made the each turn he needed to in order to arrive as quickly as possible. He was determined to make a good first impression and even more determined to stay ahead of schedule. He knew not to waste his boss' time.

Luna clicked her seat buckle, thanking him after helping her get in the truck. She waited patiently for him to get in the drivers seat, while she spotted the pistol in his jacket. Luna nodded in approval, knowing that the events that they were about to experience brought a level of uncertainty. James finally drove the truck out of her driveway and they were ready to start the day. The tension in the air quickly vanished when Luna heard him ask to disclose what she knew about a lady named Ms. Angeline Rose.

Luna was presented with a list of names. Names that were integral to their mission. Some of them she had never met before, only heard about from her boss and other crew members. However, Angeline Rose flicked on a light bulb switch in her head. She grabbed the list from James as her eyes lingered on the name she was asked to talk about. Luna bit her lip and looked out the window, watching the luxury homes they were passing by. She tried to think back to the times she had interacted with her. It was easy enough to recall, as the times they had talked were mostly at the place Angeline worked at – an old bar located not far from where Luna resided. She turned her head and focused her attention on James, who was concentrated on the wheel. Luna pursed her lips, hoping she wasn’t distracting a train of thought. Then she began.

“Ms. Angeline Rose is a bartender, and her boss is Elio Signore who owns the bar she works in as well as two other bar businesses. One of them is going bankrupt, I’ve heard.”

She continued. “Signore thinks his last resort is selling illegal goods, part of the reason why his shipment is larger than the others. He’s actually away on a business trip right now, so Angeline is the middleman. I’m more comfortable with Angeline anyway as I’ve talked to her on multiple occasions. Easy-going. Real chill.”

Luna waited for what James had to say, hoping now he had a better idea of her.

They drove for a while as Jay listened to Luna speak of Mrs. Rose and her situation. He was not worried about her at all, but the way Luna mentioned her boss brought up a slight hint of concern. It was at that moment of thought that they had arrived to the building. Jay parked the truck in front of two large wooden doors painted yellow and honked twice as instructed. A small lady came out to greet them and Luna walked over to speak to her.

As they spoke Jay dropped the gate to the truck and began offloading the crates onto a dolly to wheel them all into the building. This was the largest shipment they had for the day. The rest were a few crates here and a few crates there. Jay was just about done loading the crates into the building and he heard Luna laughing with Mrs. Rose so he figured things were going well. He pushed the last of the crates into the building and made his way back to the truck with his empty dolly. He threw it into the back of the truck and shut the tailgate. 

He then smiled as walked over to Luna to let her know that the delivery was complete. As he did Mrs. Rose handed Luna a large envelope full of cash and entered her building. Jay looked at the envelope and then at Luna's face and smiled. He then noticed just behind Luna was a black car with four sharp dressed men all getting out at the same time. Jay's eyes went wide and he grabbed Luna by the waist and lifted her into the passenger seat. He then grabbed the Thompson from behind her seat and said, "Those are feds coming this way. I think Mrs. Rose found a way to make some extra cash on this deal." 

He tucked the Thompson along his side under his coat and walked around the truck, before getting into the truck he yelled out to the men making their way over to him.

"The hell do you all want!?"

Three stopped and took a defensive stance while one kept walking and began reaching in his coat, more than likely for a badge, or perhaps a pistol. Jay wasn't ready to find out and without warning Jay exposed the Thompson and let out a violent eight second burst of .45 ACP. In those eight seconds he managed to hit all four men multiple times. He quickly opened the driver side door, threw the Thompson in and drove off as quickly as possible. Once clear he looked over to Luna and smiled.

"I'll have to go back another day and pay Mrs. Rose a visit wouldn't you say?"

It all happened so fast. One minute Luna was talking casually with Angeline, next second she hears James' gun firing in the direction of four men suited in black. She was hurled by James into the truck, and she looked back at Angeline - who was looking smug as ever. "Bitch!" She hissed. Luna heard James say something about paying her another visit and she laughed in a cruel way. "Yup. If our family spares her. She'll be dead in a couple of days. Anyways, let's visit the next person on our list." She searched for the list and realised she was sitting on it. Now crumpled up, she straightened the paper to see the words properly. Luna's eyes went on the second name and it read: 

Mrs. Angeline Rose

Lady Tiger

Luna scoffed. There was one thing she knew for sure, and that was home wrecker. Wife or mistress shall we say, of well-known businessman, but his name was never mentioned in the papers. Even in the underground world. No one knew him. Luna was starting to think that Lady Tiger was his shield for everything. Coward much. 

"No doubt she's gonna have five hundred guards plus more standing outside of her gate. Lets just get this over and done with." 

Finally, they arrived to the estate of Lady Tiger. Sure enough, a whole army of guards stood by the entrance. Dressed professionally and Luna already knowing that under their suits were gun vests. Like they thought Luna had time to have a street brawl. She laughed in her head. This was going to be fun. Luna opened the door to her side and got out, signalling James to unload the crates. She goes around to the back and helps James with the rest of the boxes. In the distance, she sees Lady Tiger. Luna smiles.  

"We agreed on cash in hand, didn't we?" Luna pointed out. 

Jay was just starting to come off of his adrenaline rush from mowing down those agents as they arrived at the next drop point. Luna wasn't kidding either, there was a massive presence of obvious bodyguards. Jay grinned as he was familiar with this type of up front protection. The reality was out of the 500 guards, perhaps 50 were worth anything. The other 450 were about as useful as a gas pump attendant with a revolver.

Still though, James didn't feel like having a brawl with 50 trained shooters and 450 amateurs spraying his general direction. He got out and began unloading the truck, as he did 4 guards approached him and took the crates off of his hands and passed them along in a sort of schoolyard game. Their shipment was delivered within moments and Jay shut the rear of the truck and walked over to see Luna speaking with Lady Tiger. 

It was not Jay's place to interrupt, so he simply leaned up against the side of the truck and pulled out the pack of cigarettes from earlier. He pulled one out and placed it in his mouth. He placed the pack back into his pocket as he scanned the guards in front of him. He then pulled out his zippo and lit the cigarette. He took a deep inhale and slowly exhaled the smoke. He was extremely calm knowing that this deal was not like the last. It was either going to go well, or he would be dead and nothing else matters. He smiled and kept an eye on Luna, he wasn't sure what they were discussing, but he was ready for her to signal him to go.

Her presence was calm, which Luna was relieved about. Lady Tiger returned a friendly smile and made a gesture to one of the guards to get a suitcase. Luna was then presented with a couple thousand in hand. "Good doing business with you, Luna." Lady Tiger replied, then walked away walking in front of the guards who were carrying the cigarettes. Everything went smoothly and Luna called for James to get back in the truck. "Whew. That's a huge change from our last client." Luna observed. She clicked her seat belt and again reached for the client list. 

Mrs. Angeline Rose

Lady Tiger

Sir Ralph Vitali

"Hm." 

Sir Ralph Vitali... 

Luna suddenly felt an overwhelming rush of happiness flow through her. "He's so funny. You'll love him." She grinned. Vitali was one of the top dogs in the crime world, mostly because of his outgoing personality. "Be careful though. He knows how to play smart, and not work hard." She explained. There were many things that people loved about him, but the main thing was that if you're associated with him - then it's guaranteed you're in safe hands. Luna glanced at the pistol placed in between her and James, and her mouth curved into a smirk. 

"You won't need that, dear." Besides, if he tried to do anything - Luna would make sure to cut him off right then and there. She wasn't the same intimidated girl anymore and Luna was proud of overcoming her fears of social interaction as her anxiety attacks rarely come now. Luna started being a little bit too comfortable in her seat, and she dozed off. 

Jay listened and nodded as Luna spoke. He was relieved to hear the news and to find that though this journey had started rough it seemed to be overall pretty straight forward. She noted that he wouldn't be needing his gun, which was comforting, but there was no way in hell he was going to leave it behind and not have the option should he ever need it. He smiled at her though and gave her a small nod as to say he agreed.

The road went on for what seemed like ages and to keep himself occupied he began to speak about a number of different things. From baseball stats, to global political tension, and even the benefits of starting a family when young.He grinned realizing that he was drifting from the task at hand. He looked over to her as he spoke.

"Sorry, I must be all over the place. I guess we should be talking more about the task at hand....."

He noticed that she had fallen asleep next to him in the passenger seat and more than likely did not hear most if any of what he said. He laughed to himself as he kept driving. He drove for another ten minutes before noticing he was only a few minutes from the destination. He looked over at Luna, the moonlight brought out her beauty as she slept. He grinned and gently placed his hand on her shoulder to try and gently wake her. It was not working, and they were moments from arriving. Jay slammed on the brakes and yelled out, "OH MY GOD WE'RE HIT!"

He watched as Luna sprang to life, breathing rapidly and attempting to figure out what just happened. Jay tried his hardest to contain his laughter as he thought to himself, "Well that certainly worked..."

"GAH!" 

Luna screamed and whipped her head around to figure out what was going on. When she heard James try to stifle his laughter, she pouted and tried so badly to stop herself from smacking him in the face. Luna rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat helplessly. She brought her hand to her chest and kept it there, taking deep breaths. Luna glared at him. "Kiss my ass." She snapped. The long drive was finally coming to an end, the continuous road before them that took forever to arrive to. Vitali's house was nearby, pretty easy to notice with the humongous gate that guarded the villa. It was surrounded by palm trees and tall grass hedges. A pool was visible to the eye from the entrance, and a lady was accompanying a sharp looking man whose hair was slicked back. She was flashing her breasts right in his face and Luna cringed. She pursed her lips and turned to James. "He's like 70." Luna raised her eyebrows and shrugs, laughing it off. 

As they got closer to Vitali, Luna saw that he was smoking a pipe. "That good ol' tobacco keeping you young, Sir!" She beamed confidently. When Vitali looked her way, she waved and gestured to James. Vitali's chest vibrates as he lets out an ear-piercing chuckle. He stands up and takes Luna by her hand, before placing a kiss on the top of it. "Well well well, certainly an honour to see you Luna. Who do we have here with us today?" The corners of his mouth turned up as he fixed his gaze on James. 

"My partner!" Luna plastered a genuine smile on her face. 

After all the days work, she could safely say that her bond with James grew. She would have to invite him for dinner later as a start to their work relationship. Her face suddenly turned red. In all her years of being so dedicated to her family, she had never thought about a romantic interest before. She was once advised by a client to never mix romance with business, it was too messy to handle. However, she couldn't help but feel her cheeks burn at the thought that maybe, just maybe... 

She jumped back to reality when she realised Vitali was still talking to her. "Luna? Earth to my dear Luna, are you there?" He teased. Luna looked up immediately and cleared her throat, feeling embarrassed that she got carried away by her own thoughts. Her face turned scarlet again. "My bad Vitali, just thinking about what James and I had to go through today. Please tell us some good news." 

A man was walking towards the three, holding a black leather suitcase. Vitali fixed his posture, like he had activated a button for 'serious work mode'. He nodded at the man, probably his consigliere, and wrapped his hands around the metal handle of the case. Vitali smiled at the both of them. "Go home, kiddos." Luna flashed a smile and reached out her hand for a handshake. "Grazie." The suitcase was soon placed into Luna's hands then walked ahead of James, as she left him with Vitali so they could chat. 

She waited by the truck door as she looked up to admire the serene sky. The day coming to a close. When James got back, Luna stopped him. "Hey. Don't take this awkwardly, but just want to say I really appreciate everything you've done today. You're approved in my books. A valuable addition to our family and hopefully I do get to see you one day as a renowned mafia boss." She winks playfully and shook out her hand. 

"Thank you."

Jay was glad to be through with the day, but more so that they had both survived. He thought about everything that had happened to them. As he listened to Luna speak with the man he noticed her blushing and quickly realized that he might not have been alone in gaining feelings. She was such a beautiful woman and his superior by far. Yet there she was being asked about me and hardly able to carry on a sentence.

Jay caught himself starting to turn a bit red around the nose. He stopped and went to the rear of the truck to re-check everything. It only took a moment, then Luna called out to him. He walked over to her and smiled as she paid him the compliment. Vitali was long gone and this point and now it was just the two of them under the night's sky. She put out her hand and thanked Jay. With a grin on his face he took her hand and placed it around his shoulder as he moved in close, pushing her back against the truck.

He looked at her straight in the eyes and without a single word he slowly kissed her at first, then more passionately so. He took in the moment before letting his lips travel down her neck and onto her collarbone before whispering in her ear. "No, thank you miss." He then stepped aside and opened the passenger door for Luna to get inside. "We should really be heading back to headquarters, people will start to worry." Once she was inside he grinned from ear to ear as he walked around the truck before getting in and driving back home.