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We meet Toni our protagonist who's got many things to hide

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          Toni D’Alessandro sat at a table at the Moddena, a very luxurious restaurant in the outskirts of Milan. He dressed in his usual attire, a dark slim fitted designer suit, a lightly unbuttoned dress shirt with no tie, some fancy leather shoes, a gold ring with a fire topaz in his right hand, an Omega wrist watch on his left hand, and a golden necklace with a cross hanged on his chest. He was a very proper young man, always courteous to people, especially the elderly and young women. He was 6 feet tall with brown eyes, semi long brown hair that he combed back but let a small strand hang on the right side of his forehead.

                The restaurant was equally upscale. Golden chandeliers adorned the Victorian Era style architecture, and a live Pianist performed many of Bach’s, Mendelssohn’s, and Beethoven’s classics. This time the melody of choice was Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.1, a lively fast paced piece of classical music genius. However, the restaurant was mostly empty, something that was strange given the popularity of the place. Toni grabbed the menu and began to flip through the pages one by one. He ordered a glass of  Chteau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac wine and remained seated as if he were waiting for someone.

            Finally, fifteen minutes after four in the afternoon an older gentleman around his sixties arrived carrying a suit case. He was followed by two other men, his body guards, that unlike him were young and of strong physique. They approached the table where Toni sat and as they drew close the older man spoke. “Toni! How good it is to see you, I am Johan Neville” they sat next to Toni and Neville extended his hand towards him for a hand shake “Pardon my slight delay, you see my wife is very sick and the old hag has been driving all the servants and myself mad”

“They say a person’s actions are a reflection of their soul Mr. Neville. Do you agree?” asked Toni refusing to shake Neville’s hand.

“I don’t know what to make of that question young Toni” Neville retracted his hand “All I know is that we are here for business matters and in a business I find it very rude to refuse to shake my hand, word around the streets was that you were a proper gentleman but I see now that maybe they were mistaking”

“Do not take matters personally Mr. Neville I don’t shake hands with any of my clients. I see it as a safety precaution” Toni leaned forwards toward Neville “and I ask you this question because I kill people for a living, yet I care for my family, my friends, and my business partners and will never do anything to harm them. So what part of my soul do my actions reflect Mr. Neville? Does the fact that I kill people for mobsters, politicians, and wealthy business men like yourself automatically make me a bad person, even if I spend most of it for other people’s well being?”

“I assume Toni that perhaps all the blood in your hands is beginning to drive you crazy to the point where you aren’t sure of who you are anymore” said Neville as he also leaned forward towards Toni “It happens to all of us you see, we do things because we need to do them for the ones we love, we do what we are best at. I’m best at making money for my family and once in a while take a young escort for night of fun. You Toni, I don’t know what you do with your spare time, and honestly it doesn’t concern me. What I do know is that you’re an excellent hire, some say you may be the best in this part of Europe.”

“And that is why you are here to see me, I apologize for the question, is just that when Im not doing anything my mind begins to wonder” Toni spoke very expressively and moved his hands a lot while talking, this made him seem like a very sincere and intelligent person “So, on to business then Mr. Neville, what do you have for me?”

“Well Toni, it’s a very simple hit you see. I’m after Nikita Kolarov, do you know him?”

“Yes, the Serbian underground weapons magnate” answered Toni

“Precisely, you see recently this man has been selling weapons to my clients and im loosing business” Neville spoke very concerned about the matter “With this economy Toni I cannot afford to lose clients, he’s gaining ground with mobsters and his products come from the Russians which means they are much cheaper than my weapons. F**k! For every riffle I sell he sells three AK47s, I cant compete with that! The bloody Russians hate me so they won’t do business and besides he can pay them more. Therefore I find the cheapest solution is to kill the b*****d”

“Yes the economy is screwing everyone over; damn bankers spend my money baling out my own enemies” said Toni as he took as drink of his wine. “So I accept Mr. Neville what do you offer?”

“Smart young man, I’ll give you five hundred thousand” said Neville

“Euros or Dollars?” asked Toni

“Euros of course” answered Neville as he put the suit case he carried on the table and opened it. “Who the hell still uses that American s**t?”

“Alright Neville five hundred will do” said Toni as he took the suit case “But you know he offered me a million”

“Toni, what are you talking about?” Neville became frightened and leaned back

“He said he would give me five hundred if I accepted and the other half the second I finished the job” Toni smiled and began to leaned back as well “at first I had no idea what how he was going to do that, so didn’t believe him, but now I know what he meant. And you know what the funny part is Neville?”

“GOD! NO!” shouted Neville

“I accepted!” Toni stood up rapidly as Neville’s body guards became alert and reached for their weapons. However they were too slow for Toni as he drew two hand guns strapped behind his back and shot the two guards in the head killing them instantly. Then he pointed the guns at Neville who was still sitting down but started to sweat profusely and tremble. “Oh! And Kolarov also sold me this”  

“T-t-toni…P-p-please” stuttered Neville

“You know… my uncle owns this restaurant.” He kept pointing one gun at Neville’s head but waved and moved the other one as he spoke. “Lately business for him hast been so great so he could use some money, so thank you for helping him”

“T-t-toni, ill give you two million please d-d-don’t do this” begged Neville

“Sorry Mr. Neville. I truly am, but its what I do best, you said it yourself, now repent for your sins”

“L-l-lord, forgive me”

Toni pulled the triggers and the bullets penetrated Neville’s head sending blood and pieces of his brain flying within two feet. He leaned over to see the three dead bodies that now laid on the floor. He walked towards them slowly kneeled down and prayed

“Eterno riposo, concedere a loro, o Signore,
e lasciare che perpetua risplenda ad essi la luce
Maggio le anime dei fedeli defunti
attraverso il ricordo di Dio, riposa in pace, AMEN”

 Toni called the waiter to come to him. “Please put these in the usual place, and tell uncle to call me. I have something for him”

“Yes Mr. D’Alessandro, right away” the waiter asked others for help as they took the dead bodies to the back of the restaurant leaving a trail of blood on their way

Toni left the restaurant through the back door and reached for a pocket insider his blazer. He took out a phone, dialed, and held it next to his ear as he walked towards his car, a black Maserati Quatroporte GT. The phone rang three time until someone answered

“Mr. Kolarov?” asked Toni as he stood next to his car

“Yes” Answered Kolarov though the phone

“It is done, and I have my money”

“Good Toni, great doing business with you”

“Can I ask something Mr.?

“Yes Toni”

“How did you know he would have the rest of the money?”

“Because Toni, I know everything about my enemies and my business partners. Everything, it’s what I do best” Kolarov hung up and Toni put his phone back in his pocket and entered his car.

As Toni drove away he began to feel guilty for what he had done. He knew that even though the money he had gained would help his uncle save his restaurant, a child would dine tonight with no father, and that a wife would go to bed alone. This bothered Toni but he knew that it was what he did best, and that no matter how much he wanted to quit his inner demons and enemies of the past would come back to haunt him and he would have to kill again maybe to save his own life.

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Toni arrived at small hill in a rural area. He parked his car and began to walk up. The green grass rubbed on his legs, he embraced the smell of the flowers and their sweet scent and as he reached the top of the hill where he saw a young beautiful woman sitting on the grass waiting for him. Her name was Helena.

“You are late” said Helena “I thought you wouldn’t show up”

“I’m so sorry, work kept me for a bit longer than I thought” said Toni as he sat down next to Helena “I would never leave you hanging” Toni held her between his arms as he gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, and in that he found a minute of comfort. He looked at her closely, her green eyes, her reddish-blond curly hair, and her small but beautiful lips all seemed perfect to him. And she was perfect, a perfect getaway from the horrors of the events of that day, and the days before.

“Toni, do you think we have purpose?” asked Helena, she had been blowing dandelions into the wind while she waited for him “I mean, all these flowers adorn the hills in the spring but they don’t do it to please us, they do it so purify our air, and when they die like these dandelions they are taken by the wind to serve another purpose greater than themselves”

Suddenly it hit Toni; all the things he did affected others more severely than they affected him or his employers. He realized that if he went on he would destroy himself, but if he stopped someone would destroy all that he loved. He had no peace, he had no solace. He couldn’t tell his fragile Helena about his profession for it would hurt her and she would leave him. So he hid it and faked a smile, he had become so good at lying that the Toni Helena knew was nothing but a mirage of the Toni he wish he could be, so he answered. “We all have a purpose; even if it’s a small one and we might never know it even when we die. Like theses dandelions we must do what he have to do, like someone told me today. Do what we have to and let gravity do the rest”

Author's Note

First Draft

Reviews

[EurasianFlavour]

Good start. I like the emotional depth you are giving the main character. There were one or two points in the dialogue I felt didn't sound like natural speech. It sounded too much like an explanation (which is what I think it is) of the characters. Other than that, and some grammatical errors (which will easily be fixed by another draft), I think you're off to a solid start.

[M.D Leon]

Thank you and yeah i have the tendency to not notice mistakes when i read my own work, thats why i post the them so u guys can let me know where i messed up. I've since revised it a few times so that will go up soon. And about the natural dialogue. not sounding natural at times, yes its problem but i left it intentionally there after i relised for reasons that will come apparent in following chapters. Small hint, Tony might be a bit bonkers! XD

[M.D Leon]

Also typing on a touch screen phone sucks! Hard!

[Cynical_Art]

Interesting first chapter. I like that there is a lot of dialogue, I feel that's always the best way to characterize a character and move the story forward. I think Toni is an especially interesting character. The concept of whether a "bad" act should be redeemed if the cause is "good" especially catches my attention. It gives a sense of realism that the world isn't so black and white and that there truly is no good or bad but merely different povs, a concept I explore in all my writing. I'm a little confused as to why the font is so unorthodox though. Was it intended or did it simply come out like that when you posted it?

[M.D Leon]

it was simply the way i posted it, i wrote it on MS word and pasted it here. but thank you, btw i messaged you back about your request.

[TL Boehm]

Nicely done. I loved the setting of this piece - very descriptive. Good solid use of dialogue and characterization - letting the characters move the story forwad - well penned. I agree, more should review this.

[Bridgette's Ink]

First, I wanted to thank you for reviewing my work and giving me great advice and kind reviews. Second, this is an amazing start to an incredible story. It was so unexpected and refreshing. I love the characters--they all play nicely together. The whole idea is very different and unique. Thirdly, WOOOT I was the first review :D More people should definitely be reviewing because it's amazing.