"Hey, 'Ria," Paulo called his sister, "Are you okay? You're walking kinda funny." Maria plastered on a smile, though it appeared as more of a grimace. She struggled to walk in a straight line toward her twin.
"I'm fine," she dismissed, "I just hurt my leg." Across the room, CJ snickered at the bad excuse, causing Maria to glare at her.
'Karma,' she mouthed, grinning.
The younger Suarez appeared confused for a moment before his eyes widened at the realisation. Bursting into laughter at Maria's situation, he drew the attention of the other men around him.
"What's so funny, babe," Iago asked, eyeing his boyfriend as if he might be crazy.
"Nevermind." Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, he turned back to the face of his unimpressed sister.
"Shut up," she snapped, spinning on her heel. She stumbled to a chair, this time causing both CJ and Paulo to laugh.
Leo watched the three of them curiously, eventually breaking his silence to tell his boss about the report he had received that morning.
"Jefe," he addressed his half-sister, "we have matters to discuss." CJ turned her full attention to him, motioning for him to continue.
"Our sources have informed me of a man within Antonio Romano's inner circle, one 'Augustus Undici', who has vital information about the Italian mafia and who Romano may be working for."
"I assume you know the places he frequents?" CJ questioned.
"Sí," he responded, "He spends most weekends and evenings in Club Albion."
"What are you thinking? Seductresses?" A look of disdain passed over her face, "Men like him are often easy prey to smart, attractive women."
"We would..." Mike began sheepishly, "Except Drew killed them all. Any that are in training are nowhere near skilled enough to pull off something like that."
CJ sighed in exasperation.
"I can do it," Maria chimed in, though she recoiled when met by the gazes of the gang. A series of objections filled the room.
"I was trained to be a seductress before I... ran," she tried to explain, "I can pull it off."
"No way."
"Not a chance!"
"It's too risky."
A slew of what they assumed to be Portuguese curses came from Paulo.
Amid the shouting, CJ cleared her throat, demanding silence.
"I get the last vote," she finalised, "and there is no way in hell that I am sending you in there."
"But-" Maria objected.
"I don't care." The quiet anger in her voice was more frightening than her shout; a silent reminder of her dominance which matched the dangerous look in her eyes.
"I said no." Maria shrunk back into her chair, not used to this side of her girlfriend.
"Then what?" Aiden piped up, "There must be someone."
"I will do it," their boss replied, which led to raucous laughter from her friends.
"They'll recognise you," Brody pointed out.
"That, my dear, is the purpose of makeup."
☆☆☆
A few days later, CJ found herself in a spare room of the main house, with Maria plastering her face and body with various cosmetics. She was void of any piercings, save for the ones in the bottom of her earlobes and her lip ring.
Prosthetic skin had been added to give her a flatter, Greek nose, alongside a sharper jawline. Whilst Maria had worked on the prosthetics, CJ had gone to town on her makeup. Sharp, black eyeliner complemented her face shape and freckles were dotted along her cheeks and forehead.
Coloured grey contact lenses in CJ's prescriptions made her eyes even more striking. A thick layer of concealer hid the majority of the tattoos that were left exposed by the outfit, excluding one on the side of her neck and on her ribcage.
YOU ARE READING
The Mafia Queens
Action"I came because your father passed two days ago. Drew is dead. You know what this means, right? You're next in line." - - - CJ Dickson is pulled out of her life in England and thrust into the USA, where she is supposed to assume her father's positio...
