Everyone in the room muscles went tense and bodies poised to strike, his Enforcer went for the cannon he called a pistol holstered under his left arm, Ms. Holloway pulled her switchblade out from someplace on her person, given her style of dress, he could never figure out how she kept it hidden. His own hand slipped toward the pistol that was still on his desktop, clearly, the girl was oblivious to how close to being dead she had just come by walking up without permission and then dropping an unsearched case in front of him. His fingers again strummed upon the top of the desk, his aggravation level was already high after the previous meeting, now it was near the redline with this turn of events. He studied the girl, if she was indeed related to Freddie, there was no resemblance, except for the naive and nonchalant manner in which she was conducting herself. 

Antonino waited till everyone calmed down, then when he spoke, his tone of voice was low, even and betrayed a hint of his irritation. “ I swear on my dearly departed Mothers grave, may she rest in peace”, he quickly made the sign of the cross across his chest, “I will never do a business deal with a friggin crackhead ever again”. He fixed his eyes on the girl and continued,” Not only does your Brother insult me by continually failing to uphold his end of a bargain, but now he insults me by sending his Sister to handle his obligation to me and not only that he then disrespects me by given someone whom I do not know, the address to my home...I suggest young Lady, that when you leave, you quickly forget how it was you got here”. He didn't wait for a response from the girl, but instead motioned for his Enforcer to examine the case then had him slide it over after the man determined it was safe. 

If Antonino's irritation was on the borderline of red before, it was well above it now once he opened and found the case empty, except for a folded piece of paper. For the next few minutes, he forced himself to take deep, measured breaths to calm himself as he glared into the empty case. Once his blood pressure lowered to where he didn't feel the dull pounding at the back of his head, he took the note, unfolded it and read what was written. He blinked twice, read it again, then with a cocked eyebrow, he read it a third time, then looked up at the girl again.

“Tell me, Miss Hartford… what would you say your relationship with your Brother was like, hmm?... typical Brother Sister,...ehh, maybe not so much perhaps?... the reason I ask is that from what I read on this note, your Brother apparently has little to no regard or concern for you what so ever”. He cleared his throat, took the brief moment to study her reaction to gauge whether or not she was totally clueless before continuing. “Allow me to explain… what should be in this case that isn't in this case, is a very substantial amount of money… payment on a very large sum of money your dear beloved Brother owes to me… what is in this case that should not be in this case is a note, on this note, your dear beloved Brother informs me that he does not have my payment, and furthermore, he is offering you to me in place of his debt owed me”.

Antonino rose to his feet, walked around the desk to the girl and stood next to her the top of her head just under his chin, he circled her slowly like a stalking cat ready to strike its intended prey, looking her up and down from head to toe, then once directly behind her he stopped, reached up and grabbed a handful of hair and pulled her head backward, then lowered his face so his lips just barely grazed her left earlobe, his breath warm, his voice a harsh whisper and laced with malice, ”if your attempting to pull some kind of scam on me with your Brother...I...will...kill...you both...personally”.

He let her go then turn to Ms. Holloway, “ Ms. Holloway, your assessment if you please” he said reverting back to a more business-like tone, then stood and watched as Ms. Holloway essentially done exactly as he just did, then step back and gave her answer while still looking the girl over, “well, she could use just a little more weight on her, flare out her hips a bit an add some roundness to her ass, we can put her on a good diet for that, then get her in the gym tone her body some and those legs, defiantly a new hairstyle and make up, she looks pretty enough now, but I’m positive she’ll be quite attractive when I'm finished with her”, Ms. Halloway told her Boss confidently. 

Antonino folded his arms across his chest as Ms. Holloway gave her assessment of the girl, then with a disgruntled sigh he gave his own feelings on the matter, “That's all well and good, but I don't care if you're able to make her more beautiful than Helen of Troy, she’ll never even come close to earning the amount owed me by her...dear beloved Brother”, he said adding a sneer as he spoke the last three words. He spun about going to the bar and pouring himself a double Scotch, then returning to his desk, his thoughts a jumbled mess at the moment as to how to deal with the situation at hand.

Antonino drank the Scotch then sat the empty glass down and sat back in the chair, then stated his intended course of action,” This is what we are going to do, I’m going to give you the benefit of doubt that it's likely you were unknowingly placed in this situation by your Brother, therefore, Miss Hartford, I’m going to allow you twenty-four hours to contemplate on the situation he has placed you in, then after twenty-four hours I expect you WILL tell me where I can find your Brother… should you even consider lying to me as to where to find him, that very large man standing there behind you will make sure you never lie to me again”, he paused a moment for that to sink into her brain before continuing to speak.


“In the meantime, you may consider yourself a guest in my home, however, should you attempt to leave, run or try to escape, that very large man behind you has my permission to strip you of your jeans and paddle that cute lil bottom red”, he paused once more then turned his attention to the large man behind her, “Bruno escort our guest upstairs if you would please”, then as a last thought he turned his attention back to the girl and spoke point blank his tone making it very clear as to his meaning as he looked her directly in the eyes. “Just so there's no misunderstanding or doubt between us… Until I'm returned what is owed me by your Brother, with interest, your ass is mine… you can thank your Brother for that should he live long enough for you to see him again”.

Antonino motioned for Bruno to take the girl then watched as the Enforcer nodded his head in compliance, take two steps toward the girl then reach out with a hand the size of a grizzly paw and grab a handful of her hair, spin about for the door and begin walking away, uncaring as to whether or not the girl had caught her balance and was on her feet following him, or had fallen and was now being dragged out of his Bosses office.