Leo was an elderly man but youth still played in his bones. At the age of Fifty-three, he still kept a firm, yet comfortable grip on his business. People who worked for him loved and respected him. He owned a fanciful restaurant that had been owned and operated for years, growing up here at the time of his youth too. His second job kept him in shape and in health. Leonardo Palsco was the Mafia leader of the City Monroe located in Michigan. Close to Lake Erie, how funny right? Monroe was hugely populated and the center of Middle American Mafia.
His two sons, Marcus and Antonio, have been the main miracle in his life. Antonio, Tony, the eldest by a year. Marcus, the younger son though some say smarter. Tony was arrogant, rebellious, and devious. With his dark brown hair and hard emerald eyes, he caught into life quickly. Whereas Marcus was built with a softer nature, making him less likely to take on the Mob. He wasn’t weak or soft but calmer and wiser. Light brown hair with olive green eyes, Marcus played the peacemaker in life.
Leo’s most trusted and oldest friend, Lucca Laver had become his adviser and second in command; The Underboss. Being best friends had led them together through a rough life together. But like life goes, after Lucca’s only child was born, Lucca’s beloved wife passed away. Lucca had shattered and broken down. Selfishness led him to Leo where he asked to have his daughter, Payton, looked after while he worked on a job overseas. Leo knew Lucca would hand her off to whoever would take her if he didn’t take her, so he accepted her. She became a quest in his house but was rarely seen besides in the gym or training, or playing with the boys.
Every time Lucca returned, he never took back his daughter, rarely took notice in her. And before everyone knew it, Payton grew up and became close with the Palsco family. Though, she grew up wealthier than most and had the luxuries of life, she grew up without a mother and her father. Holding bitterness and the feeling of being unwanted inside her heart, and only her best friend, Marcus knew.
Marcus and she became best friends when she moved in and they were barely ever seen without one another. Tony on the other hand, became her childhood tormentor. Fights between them occurred every other day. Throughout her school years, he tormented her. Until that fateful day he had been told he would be visiting Italy for training and visiting Leo’s brother. He left the summer before Junior year and those two years were bliss for Payton.
Now five years later, time has passed and the once shy, quiet girl has grown into a gorgeous woman. She has become one of Leo’s most prized employees along with becoming part of the family. She has learned the business of the trade and has worked to make it less illegal in the killing way. Though there are days when she knows it won’t ever be that way, she has accepted her place. Marcus had always teased her that Leo had claimed her as his daughter and was under heavy protection, though she knew half of that wasn’t true. And her childhood tormentor is coming back. Now add childhood tormentor, crazed co worker, Mafia family, and a whole bunch more….
