ROLEPLAY HQ - two-families

@Anthem

Isla had never considered herself a snoop, but her current position outside her father’s office would prove otherwise. She listened, ear pressed to the hardwood door, eyes closed as if that would make hearing easier, ignoring everything else around her. Her father rarely saw guests these days. He’d become reclusive, practically anti-social in his attempt at self-preservation. Even Isla knew about the target on her father’s back. He was a terrible man, who did terrible things and asked others to do worse. And while she wasn’t a snoop, she knew all sorts of information concerning his “ventures” that would easily damn him to hell—or someone else’s ire. So, when a man she’d never seen before entered his office with little more than a greeting, Isla knew something was wrong. She expected all manner of topics when the door closed, and she eased herself to her knees beside it to listen. And then she heard her name. Isla froze in horror. What could have possibly warranted her father to say her name. She knew her place in their world. She was nothing more than an inconvenience, a woman in a violent man’s world. Her father said the word in the same moment it flitted through her own mind: marriage. Because what else could evoke the need to mention her existence to a stranger. It was to be her only purpose—never mind that this was the 21st century. Women outside the Mafia had rights and choices, while she had none of that. Her father had at least been kind enough to pretend she had unlimited options. He’d once even let her entertain the idea of leaving home and going to college. Reality settled in as online courses ended up being the only real option. At twenty-two, she still lived in her family’s home, slept in her childhood bedroom, and was denied every chance to do anything but what was “expected of her”.

8:55 AM

She sat on the floor, frozen in place and horrified at the possibility of what these men were planning. With a steadying breath and a quick glance around the hall, she placed her ear back to the door. “And you would treat her as a wife should be treated, correct Tello?” Her father’s voice was laced with what she thought was hesitation, and God-forbid, fear. She’d seen the man who was probably lording over him right then. He’d been terrifying. Just one look and she knew he had committed all sorts of atrocities, even her father couldn’t compare. His name alone brought back memories of every rumor she’d ever heard that surrounded him. The man’s voice was a low rumble, like soft thunder inside the office. She could barely make out what he had said, and goosebumps erupted across her skin. Isla felt panic rising in her chest and the idea of remaining silent and obedient was a sudden betrayal to everything she’d ever wanted for herself. She may have always known that her life was never going to be hers, but this? Isla nearly choked on the breath she inhaled as reality came crashing down around her. Her father was gifting her the Devil. In a flurry of anger, Isla was on her feet and forcing the door open before she’d even decided on what to do. The door flew open, hitting the bookcase that edged it with a loud bang before silence ensued. Her gaze took in the room and the men sitting inside it as her father rose from his seat, fury etching his aging features.

8:56 AM

“Isla Elizabeth!” Seamus was seething. “What is the meaning of this?!” He wanted to scream and rage; she could see it in the bulging vein at his temple. Any affection and love he held for her was completely absent at this moment. “You can’t do this.” She forged on, forcing her fear down as she faced two men who wouldn’t hesitate to put her in her place. Isla was certain the Italian’s methods would be far more brutal than her father’s. “I won’t do it.” Her voice shook ever so slightly, betraying her fraying nerves. “You can’t make me.” “What makes you believe you even have a choice?” He was suddenly very calm, leveling his hard gaze onto her. Isla swallowed a gasp as her father’s anger engulfed the room. Any control he had now wouldn’t last and there’d be hell to pay. She’d never made a spectacle of herself before… well, at least not in the presence of someone else. To the outside world, she was the perfect daughter. Intelligent but silent, confident but meek. The perfectly obedient Irish lass bred and raised to be her father’s pawn. But acceptance of that fate never equated to liking it. Her role was simple, marry a man of her father’s choosing and be good in a world of murder and bloodshed. But she never agreed to marry a man like the one sitting there, watching her. Everything about him screamed violence and while her knowledge of Leon Tello was limited to the rumor mill, Isla fully understood that most rumors were bred from truth. People feared him, and therefore she did too. Isla’s bright gaze shifted to him as she visibly recoiled from his position within the room. She stood in the center of the office, barefoot and wearing a brightly printed summer dress with her bright auburn hair wild around her shoulders. Out of place and failing on presentation, she suddenly wanted to be anywhere else. “I won’t marry you.” She confirmed, but this time for her intended directly. @Deleted User (edited)

Anthem started a thread. 3/3/2024 8:59 AM

"Doesn't seem like your father is giving you the choice," the voice from the opposite side of her father came, the tall man was sat comfortably in the chair as he held a cane with a lion's head symbolically on it, "However, if this is not something that your family can suffice with Seamus, we can make our way out now and you can buy what the debt is owed..." With that,the tall slender man would stand, gripping his cane as he stood up, a flock of men around the room seeming to join his side as he did. The look on read tired, down to the bloody knuckles he sported, clearly fresh from something that had occured earlier. "I do not wish to be married to a woman who does not wish to be in power with me," he would say, half looking at the duop of daughter and father, "If this is not a suitable arrangement, Seamus, we will settle elsewhere. Good day..." Leon would begin to walk away from the table...

10:04 AM

@Anthem

Seamus glared at his daughter, his fist flexing at his side in what Isla knew to be a threat of violence. “It is more than suitable.” He stumbled over the words, rounding the desk as he followed the taller man. “She will do as she is told, and prove to be a good match.” His attention shifted back to Isla, that vein in his forehead practically throbbing from his fury. The look in his eyes said all she needed to know. If she didn’t agree, she’d have hell to pay. And whatever would come after Leon left would surely break her. After all, Seamus dealt in blood and pain—why would he not use that same tactic on his own flesh and blood? Money was everything and although it was new knowledge to Isla, her father clearly owed the other a substantial amount. She was his saving grace, the only pawn he had left. And suddenly she understood what it all meant for her: escaping her father’s rule. If she could just get out from underneath his thumb, maybe she could get away from it all. Marriage wasn’t a game in their world though, but could she trade one monster for another in the hopes that the one she married would be kinder? With one last glance at her father, Isla moved to stop the man from leaving. Her bright gaze met his and while she felt tiny under his scrutiny, she squared her shoulders and for once, thought only of herself. “I’ll do it.” She stated. “I’ll marry you.” In her peripheral vision she could see her father’s frame relax, relief evident throughout his entire body.

10:30 AM

@Deleted User

As the redheaded girl would step in front of him, stopping him from leaving the room, he would give a soft smile as she would say she would do it. "Willingly?" he was almost tease like in his wording, "Not just to save your father's world...?" He looked down at the girl with a hesitant glare, but he would soon look behind him to one of the men. A large man, but very short, looked like a bowling bowl of a man with brown skin and a pacific islander look, "Radio ahead and have them prepare a room with everything the woman may need." Leon would turn back to the boss of the O'Malleys, "Your daughter is your daughter and I shall respect that. The fact that you feel the need to sell her off instead of pay your debt like a man, I don't respect. You need to improve how you spend your money. His body, if he is still breathing, is at the northside port. He is chained up to a boat rack in the number thirteen building. He took the beating like a champ... You would be proud of him..." With that Leon would begin to walk away, before looking back at Isla, "Ms. Isla?"

10:46 AM

@Anthem

“Willingly.” She answered, not once lowering her gaze from his. “My father means nothing to me.” The shock on her father’s face was almost funny as he gaped at his daughter. He had sold her off, just as the Italian Boss said. And yet, he was the buyer. So what did that say about Leon Tello? Shame and embarrassment etched its way into Isla’s features, but not entirely for her father’s sake. She’d understood her place in world, but never before had to face it so directly. She was a pawn, a toy, a means to an end. And she’d just been sold to the devil. Her only hope was that he treated his prizes better than her father did. It was rumor that fueled her assumptions of the man, but it was the reality and truth that frightened her. She could have just signed her own death warrant for all she knew. When he ordered a room be prepared for her, she almost protested, not understanding that she was to leave with him right then. Yet, one glance at Seamus and she knew it would be the only way she’d leave unscathed. ”Ms. Isla” He’d resumed his movement out the door and the moment he said her name, a shiver ran down her spine. “May I gather some of my things?” She asked, unwilling to leave without some her personal belongings. She followed him out into the hall, her bare feet nearly silent on the marble floor. “Just one bag, nothing much.” What she wanted the most was her late mother’s jewelry, her devices, and one dress in particular.

11:07 AM

@Deleted User

"You may," Leon would say, stepping forward and out of her way, "But, I will join you..." "Boss, that's not..." the bulky guard would speak up, almost immediately hushed by the hand of the boss... "It will be fine, she is just packing her stuff away that she needs immediately," he was speaking to the guard, but it was almost a command to her, "We will send others to gather the larger stuff that is needed by her..." The guard would nod, but Leon would look back at Isla, "Ms. Isla, after you..."

11:54 AM

@Anthem

“Thank you.” Isla murmured, honestly surprised that he so readily agreed. She expected him to say no, to not want to be bothered by such a waste of time. The simple fact that he was okay with it momentarily soothed her fears. She didn’t understand why his bodyguard had been against it, but that was currently none of her business. So, ignoring the strange confrontation between the pair, Isla led Leon down the hall and towards then main staircase of the expansive house. She glanced back at him, not particularly fond of him following her, but not daring to say that aloud. Once in her bedroom, she grabbed a duffle bag from the closet and began stuffing it with her personal belongings. A laptop, cellphone, Kindle reader, as well as her mother’s jewelry box and the dress she’d gotten while on a trip to Paris mere days before her mother was killed. Hurriedly, she strapped a pair of platform sandals to her feet and turned to the man lingering nearby. “Why did you agree to this?” She asked boldly, slipping the bags strap over her shoulder but not moving to leave yet.

7:06 PM

@Deleted User