Stephano's mind was constantly preoccupied with his shipments. Regardless of how they were lost or destroyed, it meant either a loss of money or a trail for the feds to lock onto. This needed to be resolved in very short amount of time, or his own stake could be at risk.

He had a steady confidence in his newly hired gun, Mr. Ward, to carry out his deeds in accordance to this case. But he could sense that the boy was still tender beneath that shell, something that would have to change. Chances were that people were going to die over this, someone needed to be the trigger finger.

"Bring him out." Stephano called to his assistant as he received word that Mr. Ward had returned from his duties with Jack O'Conner. Stephano had recently purchased a beach house along the coast, and now he was spending the vast majority of his time out on the patio, cigar in hand. His eyes followed Sam as he sat across him. "I trust Mr. O'Conner has been enlightened to my demands." He gave a steely look to the young man.

After he'd done a job he expect to be left alone, especially when the job has been completed successfully. This man however didn't work that way. It seemed he liked to keep everything under very tight control.
So instead of getting the much needed sleep Sam had missed the night before because he had to shake Jack O'Conner awake he was being order to Stephanos new beach house.
The place looked almost sterile with the white floors, leather couches and the sun coming in through ceiling high windows.

Out on the back porch he took a seat opposite of the man and shifted uneasily in his seat in the presence of this old mobster.
"I did exactly what you told me. Shook him up a bit and then told him that he has three days to deliver the 'goods' or two million."
A frown never left his features while he was talking because he didn't like the situation he was in. Sam would have made his money much rather in legal ways but couldn't find a straight job that paid enough to keep his mothers medical bills paid.
"If you'll excuse me now. I need to get some sleep." He attempted to cut the conversation short.

Stephano watched the kid sit restlessly in his chair. He obviously did not want to be here, and wasn't necessarily on his best behavior either. The mobster gave him a glare that demanded a little respect.
Stephano pulled out another cigar, clipped the end of it, and lit it. "I am almost certain that my goods will not be returning." He breathed out a puff of smoke and allowed that to sink in. "Nor do I have confidence that I will be reimbursed either. Obviously, getting rid of him right away is bad for business, he can't pay if he doesn't breathe. That means we must "motivate" him to pay. I hope you know what this means." He eyed Sam carefully. "Any threats you make, I mean anything, you must carry through on the dot."

Sam kept his eyes out on the waves in order not to roll them. The reminders weren't necessary. So he simply nodded. "Understood, sir. "
The smoke from the cigar blew right in his face so he turned his eyes on Stephano and did something that was quite daring. He asked. "I have to tell you one thing though. I'm not a killer. I scare people, I break their hands and cut their fingers off but I don't kill so if that's what you're implying..." He shook his head to let the man know that he most certain about this one thing. His heart started beating a little harder in his chest because he didn't know whether Stephano would take no for an answer.

She drove around the city a little tense knowing she screwed up big time when she asked for Stephano´s help, she had lots of things in her mind. She was getting tired of being sitting driving with no direction where to go or park. She finally went straight to the beach, feeling the need to hear the waves, a way for her to calm down.

She got out of the car and walked a good amount of distance, her feet sinking in the sand. She frown looking at one beautiful house, it was pretty rare to see beach houses unless the person came from a good family, it was a pricey area to have a house. She got closer looking and listening at two men talking. One of those man was Stephano "Hi uncle," she greet him approaching the two men. "Nice house," basically the beach was his own patio.

Stephano took a moment of silence and took another whiff of his cigar. He obviously was not pleased with Sam's response. A small frown graced his expression as he sat up and leaned towards him. Without warning, the back of the mobsters hand came up and brutally slapped Sam across the face. "This is a very cold business, Mr. Ward. Death is part of our exercises. Your agreement to me means you do what I deem is moral, not what you deem is moral." He relaxed back into his chair and put the cigar back in his mouth, looking Sam over to be sure he had made his point.

A sudden surprise tore off Stephano's attention from Sam and turned his head to find what he was sure would be Mia by the tone of her voice. "Ah, miss Mia." He rose and gave her an embrace (OOC: Don't remember how my friend gave Mia greetings lol). "Just purchased." He smiled as he looked back at the home, even by his standards it was exquisite. "What brings you here, my dear?"

She noticed how quick his expression change when he spoke to her, she also heard Stephano´s words loud and clear, not only that but saw how her father´s friend slapped that young man. She hid her shock pretty quick and well. "Well, I just came here for a walk and saw you," she turned to the young man. "I didn´t mean to interrupt," she took it as her cue to go.

"Not at all." He grinned and gestured for her to have a seat. A thought came across his mind about her brother, Dominic, though he was not about to be quick to enforce any reimbursements from either of them, he did seem like an ideal candidate to carry through some of his messier work if Sam proved to be too weak. "So tell me, how has your brother been?" His eyes making contact with hers.

She smiled and play along making a quick note in her mind to tell Dom what she saw. "He´s doing fine. Behaving..." she replied and before taking a seat she approach the stranger. "Hi, I´m Mia Toretto," she introduced herself lifting her hand to shook the stranger´s hand. She felt bad for the guy for a moment, his cheek was a little red than usual for that hit he just received.

"Good, I trust he's made use of his time." Stephano sat back in his chair and pulled the cigar out, temporarily in thought. "Don't mind him, he a protege in progress." He said in reference to the kid sitting opposite him. Stephano thought nothing much of whether Mia saw his actions or not, mostly because it was perfectly normal and common in his dealings with his men.

He thought more about the prospect of putting Dom to the task of O'Conner's case if Sam proved to be a wash out, it was a solid plan B in his mind.

Of course Sam knew right off the bet that working for a man like Stephano might be a bad idea but at the time it seemed the only way to make enough money fast to pay for his mothers medical treatment. Now, however, it dawned on him that saving his mother might mean digging a six feet deep hole for himself.

He expected threatening words of some sort because the big boss would never get his own hands dirty. That's why the backhand surprised him a great deal and made his head whip around. The slap stung but the words stung even more.

Sam didn't have a lot of time to wrap his head around it though because from behind him a female voice made him turn around. It belonged to a stunning dark haired woman in her late twenties maybe early thirties who was Stephano niece. This young lady might have just saved Sam's butt. He turned his cheek away from her to hide the red fingermarks on it in embarassment.
Sam tried to figure her out while he looked at her. She was extraodrinarily pretty but that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous. Most beauties were in one way or another.

She offered her hand and after casting a glance at the old man he took it to proof he had some manners and gave her a smile that was more honest than anybody would expect under these circumstances. "Sam. Nice to meet you."

He let his pale green eyes, that seemed to bore right into people, linger on her a little longer than necessary and then stood up.
"I was just about to head out." He used the chance to get away from the old mobster without any further maltreatment.

With that he turned and stepped off the veranda onto the beach and out in the open because it seemed much safer than going through the new beach house.

"Nice to meet you too," her hand lingered with Sam´s for a little bit more. His strong stare made her nervous and she had to look down at her hand, finally removing it from his grasp. She offered him a quick smile and nodded as he started to walk away from them. Now that they were alone she turned to Stephano. "How have you been?" making small and quick conversation.

Stephano was about to see to it that Sam stayed but thinking it would maybe be for the best that he was gone at this instant, he let him go, simply saying. "Remember boy, with great rewards come great responsibility." He said with his eyes still planted on his prospect.

When Sam was out of earshot, Stephano turned to her, taking in a new breathe of air. "Mia, we have matters to discuss." He said his expression now focused on her. "I am eternally grateful I was able to assist your brother in his escape, and likewise I'm sure he would be fine if I asked a few things of him." He said introducing this new line of conversation.

Her quick conversation turned to a serious one when Stephano´s voice changed. She had his full attention now. "A few things of him..." she repeated his words frowning a little. She could already hear what she feared to hear from him. She waited a little and spoke again. "Like what exactly?"

Stephano nodded. "Yes, a simple retribution for his freedom." He debated whether the best course of action was to tell Mia straight away what he had in mind or to fetch Dom and talk to him man to man. Deciding on the later, he added. "Is there any way Dominic could join us?" He asked and leaned back in his chair, giving off an expression of anticipation.

She answered quickly, the way he said "us" was more than sure she was in on this retribution Stephano had in mind. "Define "simple", uncle. And yes, I am sure Dom will join us," Working for the mob was more than just simple... She had a bad feeling about this, but the only way to feel safe was if she was next to Dom,dangerous territory for her to be in.

Stephano sensed her unease, it made him wonder if she already had a pretty good idea of what was coming. "Simple, as in cut and dry, my niece." He briefly explained with a small grin. "Wonderful, give him a call. It would be best if I may talk to him myself." He said thoughtfully, already putting the words together in his head that he was going to speak to Dominic.

"I´ll let him know," she stood up from the chair and walked away from the house to have a little privacy as she dialed Dom´s cell phone. She waited for a few minutes until she heard his voice she spoke. "Stephano wants to talk to you and I am telling you right now, I´m not liking his way of thinking... I am here at the beach...remember that spot dad use to take us every saturday afternoon? Well.... I´m right here. Tell Brian to bring you..." she paused. "There is more but I will let you know later..." she end up the call and walk back to Stephano´s house with such confidence taking a seat one more time. "He´s on his way," smiling to her uncle.

After his encounter with Stephano and the young lady Sam left the premises as fast as he could looking over his shoulder not just once but twice. Stephano had so many men working for him that you never knew who was coming after you plus he had a reputation of not having a lot of patience.

When he made his way up to the street and reached his not very flashy Toyota Prius he noticed the exceptional old charger that was parked right in front of him. For a moment he wondered whether it belonged to the raven haired beauty but quickly dismissed that thought since it wasn't really a girl car. The woman however lingered on his mind longer than he wanted, especially because she was Stephanos niece and therefore completely off limits.
Out of mere instinct he scribbled down the license plate of the charger and then left.

Only half an hour later he stepped into the hospital downtown to pay his mother a visit. The woman had been here for over two months and there was no end in sight. the only happiness she still had was when he son came to visit her. A broad smile was plastered on her face when she saw him although his own smile was fake because a quick talk with the doctor had reveiled that she was in no state to leave the hospital , nor would she soon be.

Sitting down beside her Sam took her old, fragile hand and continued smiling. "How are you, mom?"
The old lady pulled him in for a hug and said with quivering lips. "Good, Sammy, good." His arms embraced her while his heart was heavy with the consequences her situation meant for him. Right now he was grateful that she was lying to him and couldn't see the single tear forming in his eyes while he whispered. "Great, mom. I love you."

Stephano raised an eyebrow as Mia got up and made the call presumably to Dominic from a considerable distance away. The mobster had his suspicions of what was being said between the lines but for now he let it go.
"Excellent." Stephano expressed. Now it was down to business.