Chapter 1: A Deal with the Devil

Eliza Carter sat nervously inside her car. Her chest heaved and she tried to calm herself, but to no avail. When the alarm of her phone went off, Eliza nearly jumped on her sit with fright. It was now 3:50PM. In exactly ten minutes she was going to have a meeting with Tony Mariano.

This was a meeting Eliza wasn't looking forward to. But there was no more putting away, she had avoided Tony for some time and he was getting upset. And Eliza knew better than to upset a known criminal. So Eliza took one last deep breath, and turned the alarm off and got out of the car.

As Eliza walked from the parking lot and into the building she turned quite a few heads on the way. But this was something she was very much used to. Eliza was a willowy blonde with a young and lovely face. Her yellow, flower patterned sundress hugged her slender body as she finally entered the building.

After two sets of stairs, which she languidly climbed, Eliza arrived in front of his office's door. She knocked twice, and after a minute, a tall, beefy, vigorous, a bull of a man opened the door. This was Alfredo "Screwdriver" D'Amato, Tony's cousin and go-to-man.

Screwdriver merely grunted and let Eliza into the office. On her heels Eliza stood over six feet tall, but as she passed Al she couldn't help but feeling really small. His forearm alone seemed ticker than her leg. Eliza looked around the office; it looked exactly as it was five months ago, when Eliza last came here. It was small, gloomy, dirty, infiltration on the walls and ceiling and an unpleasant odor, a mix of mold, sweat and coffee.

Eliza came here against her better judgment when, ten months ago, her father-in-law needed an expensive open brain surgery desperately. And Tony was the only one willing to loan that kind of money to someone that quick and without some kind of collateral. They would've been fine, they would've been able to pay for the loan eventually. But then her husband, Tom, unexpectedly got let go.

Tony was seating behind an old and very jaded mahogany desk, which had several accounting books piled up on it. He was nowhere near as big and beefy as his cousin, but Tony was still a large man. Tony opened a pleasant smile when he saw Eliza entering the office.

"Mrs. Carter..." Tony, smiling, motioned her to seat across the table from him. "... I was starting to think you were avoiding me."

Eliza, fidgeting nervously, sat down. "What? No. I just have been really busy these days, you know, working and taking care of Jack."

Tony nodded. "Well, I called you here, because there has been some problems with your last few payments." Tony opened one of the accounting books, and put his glasses on. "Yep, there weren't any. It's been four months since you paid your last installment."

"Yes, we're in a tight spot right now, you see, Tom, my husband, lost his job." Tony stared at Eliza over his tented fingertips. His gaze only added to her discomfort. "But he has been going to a lot of interviews."

"Well, that's good..." Tony said in a friendly way. "I'm sure he'll find a new job in no time."

"Yeah. It's only a matter of time until we get back on our feet, Mr. Mariano." Eliza was a little bit put off by Tony's understanding response, but she appreciated nonetheless. "So, if you can give us a little bit more time--"

"I'm sorry." Tony shook his head. "But I can't do that."

"What?"

"I ain't gonna open that precedent, Ms. Carter. You have to understand that I don't run an official business. But still expect all my clients to honor their agreements."

"But I will." Eliza tried to reason with Tony leaning closer to the table. "I will honor the agreement, Mr. Mariano. I just need--"

"You ain't listening." His tone much harsher now. "There are no extensions. And there are no exceptions either." He continued. "This ain't no charity foundation, Mrs. Carter. We've lent you the money, no questions asked, but we expected to be refunded. And you're already--" He checked the books one more time. "Nine thousand dollars behind."

Eliza's eye went wide. "WHAT?!" She practically bellowed. "I only missed four installments I can't owe more than six thousand."

"High interest rates. You knew that when you decided to do business with us." Tony closed the book and took off his glasses. "And, since you missed four payments in a row, I'm forced to ask you to pay the entire balance of the money we lent you."