Tyre's friend must be as fabulously wealthy as Tyre seemed to be, if not more! She pulled up short of the giant columned carport. Somehow it seemed silly to park so mundane of a little bucket of bolts in so prestigious of a spot. Shaking in apprehension with what was left of her already frayed nerves she got out and unbuckled Kevin, who had been blessedly asleep for hours. He had been so good and she felt an upsurge of pride over how her son was handling this new experience.
She stepped up to the inlaid old wooden doors of the villa and reached up to hammer the knocker down a few times. She stood waiting with her hands on Kevin's shoulders. She heard voices and then steps and then one of the big doors opened. The figure she saw was not what she had been expecting.
Her expectation had been of some short rotund Italian guy, who would give her the eye over and then ask her if she knew or was part of the 'Family'. Instead she found herself looking upward to meet the piercing eyes of perhaps one of the most strikingly beautiful women that she had ever seen in life.
"Can I help you?" The beautiful woman asked with guarded curiosity.
Anna stuttered to say what she had been rehearsing the entire trip here, but failed to get out a single word of her speech.
Something in her failure to perform must've convinced the woman that she was no threat because she opened the door wider and stepped gracefully off to the side and gestured for them to come in, "Won't you come in please."
She asked courteously.
Kevin actually moved first, which gave Anna the impetus to follow. The big door closed and Anna half turned to keep an eye on her capable looking hostess, which is when she saw the gun.
Anna's eyes grew big and she clutched onto Kevin tighter unsure of how she could protect him in this situation from such a potential foe. Her tall hostess gave her an apologetic smile as she slipped the handgun into a drawer of an ornate table near the doors.
"We don't get many visitors and it pays to be careful."
The tall woman walked closer and it was hard not to step back from her approach. She made Anna feel even more acutely aware of her somewhat diminutive size. Anna met her eyes through an act of will and was relieved once again to see no malice there for her.
"What is your name?"
"Anna and this is Kevin." Anna finished quickly in response.