Tommy had been gone for three days, leaving Vera with Tony. She didn't mind, she was the one that encouraged Tommy to leave. She did miss the kid, the two of them were inseparable.

Vera opened the back door of the car, she stepped out "Stay close." She mentioned to Tony as he stayed in the driver's seat.

Vera closed the car door before making her way towards Belandi.

She pushed open the door of the empty restaurant, she noticed the maître d standing behind his station by the doorway.

He looked up at her as she stopped in front of him "Ma'am."

"Whose here?"

"Myself, Miles the waiter and Rogers our chef."

Vera nodded "Do you have today's paper?"

The matier d reached for the day's newspaper that was placed in a small table by his desk with a display of one copy of several different newspaper companies fanned out.

"May I recommend that the next person that walks in that door, you and Miles stay out of view. I know we have a truce with this restaurant but neither of us know whose about to walk through that door and I'd prefer no one needing medical assistance."

"Yes, ma'am."

Vera walked towards a booth in the middle of the restaurant, she sat down and placed the folded newspaper on the table.

Miles uncomfortably stepped over to the table "Anything to eat or drink, ma'am."

Vera looked up at Miles, she could tell this was his first time being rostered on during a one on one meeting "Just a water please, Miles." She noticed Roger peering through the kitchen door, she waved slightly to the chef.

Rogers nodded at her before disappearing out of view.

Out of the three restaurant staff members, only Miles was new to this.

Miles came back with an empty glass and a full jug of water; he placed the glass down on her table before pouring her a glass of water. He placed down the jug of water.

"Thank you, Miles."

"Welcome" He shakily replied.

Vera turned her attention to the door, she hoped it wouldn't be a long door.

Time ticked as she waited .

"Ah. Miss Vera Melana."

She flicked her eyes up from the newspaper in her hands "Ah, Mr Tonio." She forced herself to smile.

Vera hated most of the families that she had to deal with, they all hated her in return especially since she was a female running in a man's world.

"How's your father?" He sat himself down across from Vera.

"His dead." Vera cold heartedly responded.

The asshole had a habit of forgetting that her father was dead especially since Mr Tonio was the head of the snake. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Vera tried not to roll her eyes, her father had been dead since she was sixteen, not twenty-four Vera didn't need to be reminded of it.

"How's the show going?" Mr Tonio was a man in his seventies, he believed that woman don't deserve to be treated as his equal. He believed that woman should sit in the backseat with their mouths taped shut and having Vera running her father's section wasn't what Mr Tonio wanted.

"Are you here to just chit chat or did you have something important to talk about?" Vera placed down the paper on the table.

"Nice restaurant." Mr Tonio complimented the restaurant they were both in, the silent empty restaurant.

"You want to buy this place? Fine. Have it, not mine anyway." Vera studied his face carefully.

"Such a shame, it would've been fun taking this from you."

Vera tried to keep herself calm "Mr Tonio, if you have something to say. Say it now or leave."

Mr Tonio scowled "Ah, Vera. Always quick to the point unlike your father." He placed his hands on the table to show he was no threat "I just want to know why you sent back Santino."

Vera placed her hands on the table, just like Mr Tonio did "I don't like backstabbers. Poor Santino had it coming. You come after me, you end up in a bag just like everyone else."

Mr Tonio nodded his head slightly "Santino was my best."

"Then he should've done his job." Vera scoffed "Next time you send any of your cowards to me, you better make sure they know what they're doing." She rose up from her seat "Should also make sure none of your cowards chase my skirt." She picked up her newspaper "You know my reputation, Tonio. Half of your soldiers used to be mine." She walked towards the front entrance "Goodbye, Tonio." She pulled open the door before stepping out into the heat.

Vera noticed Mr Tonio's Cadillac Escalade with heavy tinted windows parked by her SUV. She couldn't tell whether the driver in Mr Tonio's car was watching her or not as she climbed into the backseat of her car and closed the door.

Vera leaned back into the backseat as Tony began to pull out of the parking spot.

"Mr T can go shove it; the old man is going to drop soon." Tony noticed the way his boss was.

Vera smiled a little "Thanks for trying, Tony. But it doesn't matter whether he lives or not, the old man will just be topped by new blood."

The two of them sat in silence for the remainder of the drive.

Tony stopped at the red light as Vera tried to collect her thoughts.

She had dreamt of killing Mr Tonio, but everyone knew better than to cut the head of the snake, everyone including her ran under Mr Tonio and whoever tried to cut him down would be next on the hit list. Vera didn't need to be next, she just wanted to be left alone.

She heard a tap on the front passenger window.

Tony pushed down the automatic window button from his arm rest.

They both knew what this was about.

Vera leant forward slightly as the young female wearing a bike helmet poked her head through the window "Same place, same time. Tonight. There will be all attending."

"Thank you" Tony responded before the female bike rider rode her bike through traffic.

Vera Melana had been taught by her father to never trust phones, she had never grown up with a landline and certainly hadn't owned a mobile phone. Even Zasha knew the rules.

When the families had a meeting, a bike rider would be sent to relay the message. A different bike rider each time to never arouse the suspicion of the police.

Vera leaned back in her seat as she sighed "Guess we're heading home instead, Tony."

"Yes, V." Tony started heading towards the Melana house. 

Vera saw a sticky note on her front door.

V, I'm catering tonight. Z.

"Z might have some leftovers in the fridge, if you want to heat that up." Vera said to Tony as she stepped up on her tiptoes to reach into one of the hanging fake pot plants, she blindly patted the soil in the plant pot and grabbed out a key, she brushed off the dirt before putting the key into the lock than pushing open the door.

"Thanks, V." Tony took the lead as he stepped into the house and made his way towards the kitchen.

Vera took the key out of the lock before closing the door, she made her way up the stairs.

Today felt like a waste of a day, Vera just wanted to stay home. She didn't want to wait around for Mr Tonio, nor did she want to go to tonight's meeting.

She wondered how her father had managed to do this, she shook her head slightly trying to rid her head of thoughts of him.

Vera knew better than to assume what her father may or may have done. He wasn't her and she wasn't him. She was the daughter of Dexter Rivertin, who had orders to follow which made her feel like she was a solider rather than being a princess that every little girl dreams of being. She had a job to do, she wasn't allowed to sit back. Vera wasn't trained to lie down and take it; she was trained to stand up and fight.

She stopped at the top of the stairs, she looked to the left of her and stared down the hallway.

Vera gripped tight the stair rail; she bravely took several steps down the left of the hallway.

Stopping in front of a wooden door with a gold plaque to it; office, it read in cursive font.

Vera's breath felt shaky as she reached for the door handle. She quickly pulled her hand away from the door handle and quickly stepped back to the stairs. She quickly stepped down the stairs than stopped at the bottom of the stairs as she tried to calm her breathing.

"You okay, V?"

Vera jumped slightly. She turned her attention to Tony who had just walked into the dining room holding a container of fried rice, his fork carefully balancing between his lips.

"What are you eating?" Vera tried to convince herself she was fine.

"Fried rice." Tony sat down in his spot at the dining table "Z made it."

Vera sat in her sat across from Tony as he ate from the container.

"Want some?" He offered the container towards her.

She shook her head.

"Sure? Z makes the best..."

"Food." Vera finished his sentence "I'm sure."

Tony took back the container as he went back to eating.

Vera's life was far from normal, what helped her stay grounded was her relationship within her own trusted circle.

It had taken her a while to find her faith in trust with people. With Zasha and Tony, she knew she could attempt to find some normalcy while with Tommy, he reminded her of the life she was forced to live, a life both he and her were forced to live.