I went into this little "meeting" that the daughter of the Don had set up with a lot of curiosity. I had did some digging into her since she apparently had been doing some looking into me. It wouldn't do for me to not do my homework in turn. Doing my due diligence, it would seem like the daughter had a bit of a complex when it came to her family. She wasn't entirely content to sit on her ass and do nothing all day. It would seem like her father had plans for her to go legit and do something with herself in the legal side of the world, but the princess had other plans. My research would also turn up that she hated being called princess. That'd be something that be important to remember.

I pretty much left things at that doing a brief background check and finding out the girl had a chip on her shoulder was hard enough without getting people to ask why I wanted to know, and I got the feeling it would just lead to more people looking into me than I wanted. It would seem the Don already knew who I was, which would mean that the Capo I was working for would know and so would all of the Don's other people. Rising up the ranks here would only lead to more people knowing about me, and the more people that knew about me the more likely someone would remember who my family was and would want to put an end to me to make sure I didn't want revenge for my ancestors.

I could really careless about what happened between the inhabitants here and my ancestors, it didn't really affect me and I had my own dead family issues to be worrying about anyway. It would appear I'd have to change things up after this but I would hear the young woman out. It had been a long time since a woman had caught my interest in a non sexual manner but this one was intriguing. I could relate to wanting to prove something to a parent. I was never really the overlooked one, but I was the one with the desire to handle things in my own way. Things could be interesting with the little missy, plus maybe doing a job for the daughter would piss the father off and that would be my reasoning for heading back state side. I highly doubt they'd send people to look for me there though they may reach out to the locals. Either way it would appear my time in Italy was coming to an end.

I arrived to the location of the meeting early, just like Uncle Frank always taught me. No matter what the meeting was or who set it up, always get there early because you never wanna be caught with your pants down on anything. I left my car in clear view, she had selected what seemed to be an abandoned parking lot somewhere far away from where people usually traveled. Not too bad of a spot but definitely a lot of ground and ambush points. If she wanted to set me up to kill me or better yet, her father did, this would be a pretty good spot to do it.

I went to go make myself scarce and wait until she showed up. Frank taught to always be early but to never show yourself first. I would let the princess show herself first but let I know that she wasn't the first to arrive. I didn't think she was out to deceive me but I'd be a fool if I let my guard down. So as not to give away my location I even fought his urge to smoke a cigarette. The more and more I had to wait the more and more annoyed I was to have chosen to do things this way. The fact that I had nothing at all to do besides continue to look down at my watch every few seconds didn't help much.

I waited and continued to look around for 15 minutes before I said 'fuck it' and pulled out a cigarette. By the time I got it in my mouth I heard a car's engine in the distance.

"Some fuckin' timing on this woman" I said out loud and looked down to my watch to notice she was about 5 or so minutes late.

Must be some shit she got from her father. I didn't know how much she knew about tactics and if this was a ploy or not but at this moment and due to the lack of nicotine I didn't really care enough to figure it out on my own. I watched her pull up and look around her surroundings. She noticed my car but saw that I wasn't around. She was clearly on edge now. Good. That's exactly how I wanted her. She needed to know how far out of her depth she was. She surprised me at her house with my information that she'd found but this was my world she was playing in and she needed to know that.

I made her wait there for about five minutes. She looked like she was annoyed possibly getting ready to take off out of there thinking she had been played for a fool or stood up. I gave a slight chuckle to myself seeing how she had gone from worried to irritated. She certainly was interesting alright. I stepped out of the shadows and stomped out the cigarette. She heard the noise I was sure because she turned her head in my direction. I walked back to my car which was parked directly next to her which she had gotten back into.

"You're late." I said while looking down at my nails trying hard not to let her see the smirk that was threatening to break out on my face.

The amount of chaos it took to get out of the house without any security detail traipsing along was a headache.  Rachel managed to convince Roberto to volunteer to be her security slash chaperone because that's all her father truly wanted for his daughter.  Once it got settled, she pleaded with Roberto to let her handle this on her own just this once.  She didn't take that Antonio fella to be dangerous, he seemed somewhat hotheaded from her findings, but not dangerous in the sense she was scared of him.

The place she had given him was an old location of one of the businesses her father had dealings with, but the place had been vacated for months now.  When she arrived, Rachel drove all the way to the back, parked the car around the side out of view, turned off the headlights then killed the engine.  For what seemed like half an hour she waited pacing closely beside the car, front of the car to the rear, back again and again.  She kept throwing her hands up in the air as she waited, but when she heard the faint sounds of a car approaching, Rachel stopped moving completely.  She didn't see any headlights though turning into the parking lot, so she passed it off as a vehicle going down the road.

After sometime not hearing anything, She walked to the edge of the building, but saw nothing.  Surely she hadn't hallucinated hearing a car pulling up.  This place was too far outta the way just for cars to pass by on a regular basis.  Maybe she was nervous, or hearing stuff in the night, but Rachel decided to go check it out and see.  She revved up the car then cringed at the slight echo it made, and thought so much for trying to be quiet and checking on things, not turning on the headlights just in case she wasn't alone after all.

Once she drove the car slowly towards the entrance, Rachel paused at the end of the building for a few minutes.  She couldn't see around the build itself, and wondered ....wondered what if her father had sent someone to follow her.  She turned the car around the building with caution, just unsure of what she might find.  Once she got on the other side of the first building, she saw am empty car parked near the middle part of the other building.  She checked the time, but didn't think Antonio would be this early already.

Rachel parked her car beside the other car then got out.  She glanced through the back windows, but only saw a couple items laying haphazardly in the backseat.  Her blue eyes traveled around the empty parking lot, from one building to the other, trying to get a glimpse of movement in the moonlit area.  A few dumpsters were scattered in places, and boxes were stacked up in one area, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary.  Her nerves were getting to her thinking about her father then her brows furrowed as she felt that frustration give way.

It would be just like him to always interfere with shit in her life.  Rachel got back into her car, gave one more glance over to the empty car then she heard his chuckle.  Her head turned back towards the front of the cars as she tried to focus on the figure in the moonlight.  Once she saw Antonio move closer into the moonlight and outta the darkness of the night, Rachel felt slightly more relaxed....until he told her she was late.  What fucking nerve of this man.  HE couldn't even follow directions to meet at the back of the building, 'off the road' were the exact words she had used.  She got outta the car still hearing his chuckling, slammed her door and placed a hand on her hip.

"What the hell do You mean late?  I'VE been here almost half an hour or longer.  YOU are the one late!  And sneaking around like a thug.  I thought better of you Antonio."

In the attempt to hide her nervousness in the situation, Rachel began walking around the front of the car, crossed her arms then rested against the hood of the car.  She wasn't entirely sure her father wouldn't have her followed regardless of the deal she made with Roberto or not, so she decided to get right into the meat of the meeting immediately.

"Anyways I don't have time to play games.  You are aware I'm sure of the Mayor's political stance on organized crime elements, and the impact he would have on my father's business if things go in favor of the mayor.  I do know however that my father is plotting some kind of mission to include kidnapping the mayor's son.  Now my plan is this....."

Rachel stood up straight.  Walked over to stand right in front of Antonio.  Her gaze deadset on his.  Her voice was nothing but serious.

"You help me kidnap him instead.  We hold him here."

She waved a hand towards the empty buildings.

"This is the perfect location to hold someone for an indefinite amount of time.  It's secluded, off the beaten path so to speak.  We make the mayor bend to OUR demands, and in the best interest for la Famiglia.  We rough the kid up ...but just a little, nothing too harsh.  I need someone to assist me though.  That's the killer part for me."

Rachel sighed softly knowing it took great effort asking this man for help, but she needed someone not closely tied to her father.  She wanted to do this on her own to prove she's capable of being a part of the family business.

"Whatta ya say?"

I laughed when this woman tried to insult me by calling me a thug. She must've truly been kept sheltered if that was the best way she could think of to get under my skin. I didn't hold back my amusement at all. I was greatly entertained especially since she looked like she was equal parts relieved and nervous to go along with her anger, and they were in a 3 way deadlock to see who would win out for dominance.

"That's all I am though princess. I'm a hired thug with a pretty hefty fee. I never claimed to be anything else ya know? And for someone who's so smart, you should be able to tell that I been here a long time ago considerin' you're pulled up to around my car. I could've been doin' a great number of things. None of which you've considered yet. Matter fact, you still haven't even checked to see if this was a set up or not. Bein' high up has you slippin' princess, you need to tighten up or keep your babysitters with you before you get hurt." I finished teasing.

She was getting angrier and angrier and it only added to my amusement the more red her face would get with my words. She had a cute scowl to boot. In her mind I'm sure she was coming off as intimidating but it was endearing to me.

Then I heard her tell me about her plan and what her father was doing. I kept a face of disbelief to hide my complete surprise. I was completely shocked to be hearing about such a plan. It was clearly one that was barely thought through and could only happen here where they had so much power to get away with things. But didn't they know that if they continued to push the system they would fuck themselves over in the end?

It was certainly nothing that could ever happen back in the states. Politicians and shit were untouchable even with a ton of connections. I was sure Don Lorano hadn't really thought this through and maybe one of the other people in the family with great ambitions had this idea, but it would even worse for his daughter to be caught up in some shit like this.

I simply raised an eyebrow before responding to her.

"Are you completely fuckin' nuts or what? You wanna kidnap a mayor's kid and hold him ransom in some shit place like this? And to add to the fact, you wanna send a message by beatin' the kid?" I asked.

I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or facepalm or both, but I fought the urge to do either and just slightly shook my head before continuing. 

"Is this some kinda test from your father? Have me prove my loyalty or somethin' by keepin' his crazy ass daughter out of trouble? Tell him, I ain't interested in the riches and honor of being whatever it is he wants me to be. You can go home and tell him I'm out." I said pulling out a cigarette and walking toward my car door about to get inside so I could drive home.

I hated to waste little missy's time or that she wasted her own. But this plan was too bonkers for even the craziest of people to get involved with.

His laughter at her frustration only served to fuel the anger building up inside her even more.  The audacity of him thinking that HE arrived first.  What fucking nerve of this man.  The information on him didn't go into a deep description of his arrogance, but it was plain to see firsthand. She crossed her arms then spoke with irritation lacing her words.

"From what I know about you Junior, you like to go at things alone.  I realize working With someone could be a foreign concept to you, but I didn't realize you couldn't accept money from a lady just like you can a man.  I get your pride might be wounded for not being the brains behind the operation, and only used for your...."

She paused then amusingly glanced over him from head to toe before continuing.

"..your brawn.  So honestly why would I be worried this was an ambush?  Mister work it alone."

Typical she thought how it was in this fucking country.  A woman couldn't have a single idea on anything, and if she dared to be she was labeled insane or nuts.  This is why the world was so poorly run because of men leading it.  Fine.  She'd do things her way on her own.  Rachel watched him get in his car then turned to her own car, but turned quickly towards his car glaring at him through the open window, spouting off to him as she heard the engine purr to life.

"My father didn't send me to test you on anything, so think what you want.  And since you think the idea is ridiculous, and his daughter is so crazy then why don't you just leave.  I was foolish to think I'd need your help anyways as if you had any skills of any value any kind."

Rachel then stood up to her full height as she crossed her arms.

"I can do this on my own without some thug getting in my way.  You'd probably have ended up getting us both killed somehow.  So just go on and get outta here.  My time is worth more than wasting it on the likes of you."

With the last of her words barely out of her mouth before her temper got out of control, Rachel stormed off into the building.  The door had been stuck, but with enough force and anger assisting her, she got the door open easy enough.  The area was dusty as hell, boxes stacked all over the place, and a few tables and chairs left behind haphazardly.  Rachel crossed her arms trying to get her emotions under control to get perspective of the upcoming situation.  She guessed she could hire a couple of men to carry out the plan, but had no idea at the moment where to start.  Perhaps she was just fooling herself anyways by thinking this plan would work.

I sat there with my car started almost ready to drive away while the princess walked into one of the abandoned buildings here. I hadn't written off most of what she said as her just speaking in anger or maybe being part of the test. I can't believe that this is a plan that she could carry out. I had a strong urge to just drive away and let her handle it especially since it had nothing to do with me at all. Then I had to get started thinking. Evidently this girl was truly wanting to show her father exactly what she was capable of, and there was no way she'd pull off this bad idea on her own.

I also could understand wanting to do something to make your family notice you for yourself. To be honest she probably was more capable than the rest of her brothers and what not. They accepted women as criminals back in the states but over here, nobody would take her serious and she would either give up and end up doing something much more reckless, or she'd continue to try and go through with this on her own and seriously fuck up and that wouldn't be good for anyone who had nearly anything to do with this.

I tried to tell myself that it was about self preservation but really I knew it was more about the soft spot I had for the girl who was just trying to prove herself. I let out a sigh as I killed my engine and got out my car to head inside the building I seen her enter. I walked in and looked around and noticed just how run down the place had been. 

The place was filled with dust, rust, and all sort of other unhealthy things. I could even hear the rats squeak and run from place to place. This was clearly their turf, they didn't even bother to hide or scurry away when the moonlight from the outside lit up the place or not that there were two people moving around inside. I idly wondered if the princess noticed or if she was too mad to see them. If she did notice then more power to her for not being afraid at all. She was braver than I thought.

I gave off a snort to alert her to my presence if she didn't already know.

"If you take a mayor's spoiled brat and you hold him in a place like this? I don't think you need to throw him a beating to send a message. A fuckin' place like this will be more than enough for him to get him to tell his daddy to do whatever it is you want." As I said that a rat came running right between us.

I had to fight my own instincts to jump out the way. Those little bastards are too quick to deal with and they creeped out much tougher men than me.

"Anyway princess, if you're gonna pull something as crazy as this off then you must have more of a plan than 'grab kid from wherever and store him in abandoned, rundown, torture place right? I mean what do we know about this kid? Where you gonna pick him up from? What's all the other little details of this plan of yours?" I asked hoping things have been thought out to at least this far or there was some good amount of information we had to go off of.

"Mio Dio.  What the hell did I get myself into?!  That man is impossible!  Grrrrrrrrrrr!!"

Rachel kicked a box near her foot then made a cloud of dust fill the air, making her cough repeatedly as she fanned the dusty air away.  Just a perfect ending to trying to prove herself to her father when she couldn't even get someone on board with her idea.  She'd thought with his similar background of being on the outside of his own family's business.  For whatever reasons though she didn't exactly know, Antonio Jr. was kept from his family business just as she was.

She'd learned by listening, watching, and paying attention to things around the house when it came to her father's business dealings, plus insight from Roberto along the way.  This idea would have worked damnit, but now it seemed to be a struggle.  She didn't know where just yet she would find dependable men, especially those who wouldn't run off to her father blabbling immediately.  She needed time, and wondered if Roberto would indeed help her or not.

She heard a few noises from one corner by a pile of boxes.  She glanced up towards the windows that were up high, closer to the ceiling than the floor, and Rachel frowned at the lack of light that the window were giving inside the building.  Covered in cobwebs, and darkened by what she could only hope was soot.  The noises continued, but this time in various directions.  When Rachel saw the first rat, she shrieked softly then froze.  She didn't necessarily wanna draw attention to herself, and briefly wondered if she could ease back out before they noticed her standing there. 

One step backwards then she heard the door creaking open.  God what did that man want now...more fucking insults at how she can't do this or that.  Her blue eyes kept a focus on the movement by the boxes and thought how daring these rats seemed to be.  Rachel almost smiled to herself as she thought how she would gladly sacrifice that pest of a man to the creatures lurking inside the abandoned warehouse.  The least he could have done was bring a flashlight, but nooo.  One of the rats began running across the middle of the floor, and Rachel jumped slightly.

He snorted as if he had any right to laugh at her.  Rachel rolled her eyes as she turned around, but gulped slowly when she saw how close he had gotten.  He turned his head in the direction of the rats then back towards her then spoke in sarcastic tone she'd already begun to be familiar with now.  She placed a hand on her hip as she slowly turned to face him fully, but still mindful of the fact not to make such sudden movements to draw the attention to them.  Her voice was low but tinged with a growl.

"Look if I remember correctly, and mind you I certainly do, but someone just said this plan was fuckin' nuts.  Oh! No wait!  That someone said I'M fuckin' nuts and crazy to boot.  Why did ya come back then?  Afraid I'd tell my father what you had to say about loyalty?  Well forget it.  I ain't a damn snitch, but I don't need your help anymore.  There's the door, so hope you don't get lost finding your way outta here since you apparently got lost in the parking lot getting outta here."

Right on the end of her bravado speech, a fucking rat ran with speed in between the two of them, causing Rachel to screeh as it ran past a few feet then turned and headed in her direction.  She stumbled and fell against Antonio, her hands each grabbing a handful of his shirt.  Once she steadied herself, she let go with haste, and once she glanced up to meet his gaze, the moonlight revealed yet another smirk at her expense.

"The plan isn't etched in stone per se, but I've got enough information on his routines, hangouts, dining establishments, whatever else I need I won't have any trouble getting.  You obviously underestimate My connections.  As far as the 'little details'....what do you care for anyhow?  Ain't leavin' mister loyal thug?"

Rachel made a move to walk past him, symbolically leaving him in the dust of the duty building, but moreso to get the hell outside and away from the rats.  She needed his help, but his insults prevented her from begging Antonio for any assistance now whatsoever.  She made it to her car door thankfully, but still glanced around with caution.  Her eyes darted back to the warehouse door when it opened then Antonio came outside as well.  She scoffed softly knowing that man infuriated her to pieces.

I let out a laugh though I'm not sure she had heard it since she made sure to get the hell out of the building pretty quickly. The way she looked around she must've noticed the rats and in true woman fashion, didn't want to be anywhere near them, though he couldn't exactly blame her. This woman had spunk and attitude and anger.  If they were used correctly, he was sure she could be a true asset to this world of theirs, but as of right now she didn't have the training and discipline to really know how to properly get things done in this life.

I gave another brief sigh as I made my way out of the building himself, watching carefully where I stepped to make sure I didn't accidentally step on something I wasn't supposed to. There was no way anybody would be comfortable staying in this place for too long. I made my exit out the building and saw the woman was about to enter her car. This made me wonder just how serious she was about this. A straight out refusal and she was already ready to throw in the towel on trying to get me to be apart of this plan.

I was curious, she went through enough to research me and get all this information on me but then was ready to walk as soon as it looked like I wasn't interested. Usually that's not how it worked. I had been recruited into doing things I didn't want to before and usually when you're picked and researched it means they definitely had a plan for you and wouldn't usually take no for an answer. But she did and dammit my curiosity was getting the better of me here.

I walk quickly over to her car so that I can stop her before she pulls off. I walk up on the driver's side and knock on the window to get her attention. I waited until she rolled it down and I had her attention before I let confusion show on my face. I raised my eyebrow before speaking.

"So lemme get this straight. You show up all chipper and determined right? You present a piece of a plan that you apparently went all out for, and because I call you nuts you just give it up? If I'm so 'not needed' then why the fuck did you go out and do all that research on me to learn my name and what I can do then set up a meeting with all this secrecy and taking all these precautions to get us both alone just for you to give it up so easily?" I ask taking a moment to let that sink in and maybe let her reasonably see what she has done before continuing.

"THIS is what I'm talking about and why I'm worried about you doing somethin' like this anyway. You let your emotions and pride get the best of you. Hell, that's what's wrong with all you Loranos. All too impulsive. Look there's no doubt this is a stupid idea but I get where you're coming from. You wanna get noticed in the eyes of your father. We're not exactly the same though. I'm not on the outside of my families operations, or rather I wasn't. I didn't wanna be like them I wanted to do my own thing instead of getting them to include me in their shit. Looks like I won that battle huh?" I ask myself quieter. I think I was beginning to reflect on things and being the loner too much but now wasn't the time for that.

"Anyway, the least I can do is make sure you don't fuck this up. So if you'll still have me I'll help guide you through on this ridiculous scheme to grab...." I cut myself off before sighing and coming at this another way. "I'll help you with this job your planning. But the pay better be damn good and then you all forget about me being here. Sound good?" I ask now feeling more in control of this conversation.

She gave a shrug as she looked over to Antonio as he came towards her, but she didn't crank the ignition right away until he was directly in front of the hood of the car.  Rachel turned the key, revved the engine softly despite the urge to go all out and press the gas to the floorboard. She stared straight ahead thinking he was going to get in his own car and leave her behind in a trail of dust.  When he tapped on her window, Rachel was a bit shocked as she begrudgingly rolled the window down.  What the fuck else could he possibly have to spew out at her now?  His words fueled her anger even more.

"Yeah well.  I am so used to being ignored, talked over, told how it isn't my place in a man's world to be involved in business, so why would I think your insults and yelling were any different from any other man in my life?  You don't even know me, yet you tell me I'm fuckin' nuts, have a crazy idea and plan, so what the fuck are you even still here for if that's how you feel?  I don't have to stay here and put up with shit like this.  I'll do this on my own."

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel, somewhat wishing in that moment she could just choke the life outta someone as he continued on.  Rachel gritted her teeth then spoke as calmly as possible.

"I took the time and interest, and did the research on you thinking that you would be of some help to me, but I was wrong obviously.  I know when to cut my losses.  THAT'S why I'm giving up on you, not because I'm scared of you running off to my father, or anyone for that matter.  Do what you gotta do, and I'm gonna do my own thing."

In that moment, Rachel was seething, but sat there thinking to herself.  She's glad she didn't present all the work towards the plan she'd already come up with because he'd probably have scoffed or laughed at all that work just like he's laughing at her since they got here.  Rachel scoffed quietly then turned her gaze to the windshield.  Pride.  What the hell did he know about her pride?  He knew nothing about her really.  The struggles she faced all her life, never measuring up because of her father and his views.

"At least I have some goals to think about.  Something to do with my life.  Impulsive isn't always a bad thing, and it gets things done ya know."

Rachel wouldn't admit out loud that her impulsiveness had led her to find out all about him, even though at the moment she was frustrated with the imbecile of a man, she still was enjoying her time with him.  The sparring back and forth was invigorating to say the least.  At least she was given a chance to reply unlike being at home with her father and idiot brothers.  She felt her frustration beginning to melt away more by the minute.  He had some solid points despite not wanting to acknowledge any of it just yet to him, Rachel still could accept he was right on some things.

"I don't need help with the planning.  It was the carrying out and follow through that I needed your skills for.  I don't know if you're genuinely offering the help, or it is a pity move, but whatever.  I'll get in touch with you tomorrow with the date and time of everything.  Then it's on you to show up and be a part of it or not."

Rachel gave him one last look before putting the car in reverse.  She didn't really wanna give him time to toss out more insults or pity moves, so she got her mind busy with the plans and possible fallouts, and all the little sordid details as she drove back home.