Tony's back! Thanks for all the reviews as well obviously.

Darkness had well and truly fallen in Miami as Tony and Manny arrived at the huge imposing mansion that was unmistakably the home of Frank Lopez, the most powerful drug lord in Florida if not the entire American southeast. As the pair's car slowed to a halt at the building's impressive main entrance, Tony took a moment to admire the grandeur of Lopez's home, and a smile grew on his face as he envisaged how superior his own mansion would be when he reached the top.

Movement in the corner of his eye brought him roughly back to the present, and his smile died on his lips as he remembered the person driving Manny and himself. Despite managing to arrange a meeting with Lopez in person, Tony had been considerably dismayed when Omar turned up to drive the two friends to it. Dressed in a black and white pinstripe suit, Tony was strongly reminded of a penguin. It was fortunate that this mental image helped suppress the growing hatred he was feeling concerning Lopez's lieutenant. After the slaughter at the Sun Ray – the coke deal with the Colombians having been set up by Omar himself – Tony sincerely doubted that he would ever grow to like Omar Suarez.

As their car stopped at the bottom of the steps leading up to the mansion's main entrance, Tony watched as a waiting doorman stepped forward and opened his and Manny's doors for them. Tony exited slowly, drinking in the lavish environment surrounding him before starting up the steps. On his right, Manny, in a sharp new grey suit, peach shirt and red tie, followed. He had recovered well from his gunshot wound. In his right hand he held a brown leather briefcase, also new, within which was both Omar's buy money for the failed deal as well as the two kilos of cocaine they had escaped with.

Tony and Manny had pooled their meagre earnings from their job at the burger bar before they came, and invested them in both the briefcase and new suits. Wearing his new suit now, a dull blue colour, Tony knew that, especially in a business such as theirs, first impressions were everything.

As the pair made their way up the stairs, Omar quickly jogged by between them, unashamedly putting a firm hand on Tony's upper arm as he did so to get by before heading inside. Momentarily surprised at Omar's continued disrespect for him, Tony mentally gritted his teeth and turned to Manny.

"Nice fucking guy," he muttered under his breath. Manny smiled. Behind them, the doorman entered Omar's car and drove away to park it. One of Lopez's guards, a broad moustachioed Cuban in a plain black suit and white shirt, dropped in behind them as they headed inside.

Tony and Manny followed Omar as he turned left upon entering through the building's open doors and headed down a short corridor – into the main room of Lopez's mansion. Tony took a moment as he walked in to survey it in wonder. Almost everything was white, with a few shots of red and black throughout for contrast. The second floor looked out over them from balconies around the room. Two small glass elevators in red shafts stood motionless on either side of the room – the position of the far one showed that there was a third floor as well. A semi-circular black leather couch sprawled in the centre of the room nearby, in front of some palms and wall-length windows looking out over an outdoor pool and the Miami skyline. Truly, Tony thought, this is what man was put on the earth to achieve.

Tony kept his thoughts hidden though as Omar gestured towards the corner of the room. Exiting the corridor fully, Tony saw that there was a curved bar in the corner, and as Omar spoke a man somewhere in 50s, balding, with a paunch, and in an obviously expensive white suit and an opened-neck baby blue shirt, emerged from behind it with a drink in hand, and approached them.

"Frank Lopez," Omar said, smiling, "Tony Montana."

Miami's dominant crime lord extended his free hand to Tony, smiling broadly. "Tony Montana," he said amicably.

Tony shook Lopez's hand firmly. "Mr Lopez," he said in greeting. "It's a pleasure."

"You can call me Frank," Lopez replied wearily –weariness not directed at Tony, but at the act itself.

"Everybody calls me Frank," Lopez continued. "My Little League Team, even the fucking prosecutors around town – they all call me Frank."

"Okay, Frank," Tony agreed, smiling. Frank smiled back, and shook hands with Manny as well as Tony named him. "He caught one on the job," Tony explained, seeing Frank notice the stiffness in Manny's right arm.

"Went right through," Manny explained, almost shamefacedly.

"We heard about that," Frank replied, appearing deep in thought as his gaze moved between the two. "Omar...he tells me great things about you guys."

This came as a surprise to Tony, who turned to look at Frank's deputy where he stood behind Manny. Looking away from his master, Omar eyes met Tony's defiantly.

"Well, Omar's okay," Tony told Frank after a brief pause, turning back to him. Maybe he didn't know Omar's true intentions, but he decided to go along with him.

"Not to mention of course the nice job you did for me," Frank said, now deadly serious. "That Commie son of a bitch - "

"You don't have to mention that," Tony said, cutting him off. He remembered how Emilio Rebenga had tortured Frank's brother to death back in Cuba. "That was fun."

Frank looked lost for words. "That was fun?" he asked quietly, incredulously.

"Damn right," Tony replied casually, hands on his hips.

"That was fun?" Frank repeated, a smile growing on his lips as he turned to Omar. Omar grinned back at gestured at Tony, as if to say that he and Tony were the best of friends and that he was well accustomed to Tony's eccentricities, as Frank laughed wildly. This was a sign that everyone could relax, and Tony and Manny smiled along with him.

"Hey, what do you want to drink?" Frank asked, his laughter subsiding as he moved back around behind the bar. "Scotch, gin, rum, what do you like?"

"Uh, gin, gin is fine," Tony replied, as he and Manny walked over to the bar as well. "Want some?" Tony inquired of Manny, who nodded. "Yeah, two gins," Tony told Frank. Frank set to working pouring the two gins into glasses on a counter on the back wall. As he did so, he turned to talk with the two men.

"I need a guy with steel in his balls, Tony," Frank explained, smiling as he looked between Tony and the gin he was pouring. "A guy like you. And I need him around me all the time – you, Tony, and your compadre here." At this, Frank gestured towards Manny. While Lopez turned back to the gin, Tony and Manny exchanged glances. Each could see the excitement in the other's eyes – things were going as they had hoped. Seizing this opportunity, Tony reached out a hand towards Manny, who handed over the briefcase.

"Here's the stuff," Tony told Frank, laying the case down on the bar. After undoing the locks, he pulled it open to show the cocaine within.

"Two keys," Tony confirmed, as Frank slowly turned and came towards them, gins in hand and looking silently at the case's contents. "It cost my friend Angel his life. Here's the money," he added, pulling the cash out from beneath the coke and dropping it beside the drugs. "My gift to you."

Frank looked intently at the cocaine and money – and then closed the case. "I'm sorry about your friend, Tony," Frank said apologetically, shaking his head in disbelief at the actions of Hector – the Toad. "If people did business the right way, there'd be no fuck-ups like this.

"Don't think I don't appreciate the gesture," Frank added, after exchanging a look with Omar that Tony found intriguing. Did Omar disagree with Frank's actions? "You're gonna find," Frank continued, " – you stay loyal in this business, you're gonna move up. You're gonna move up fast."

Frank handed Tony and Manny their drinks, and led them in a toast to good health. "...and you're gonna find out here that the biggest problem is not bringing in the stuff," Frank added, "...but what to do with all the fucking CASH!"

At this, Frank laughed wildly again, and Tony and Manny smiled good-naturedly. Tony found himself liking Lopez. "I hope I have that problem someday," he replied, grinning as Frank came out from behind the bar.

"You're gonna have that problem, don't worry," Frank countered, grinning just the same. "Come on, sit down over here," he said, leading the group over to the leather couch nearby, which sat in a perfect circle of red in the otherwise-white marble floor.

As the group sat down on the couch facing each other, Frank on the far end, Tony and Manny on the other, Tony saw Frank look at his watch. "Where's the hell's Elvira already?" he asked irritably of no-one in particular. "It's late. Go find her, will you?" he said, talking to his guard, who was now pouring himself a drink.

"Jesus!" Frank exclaimed. "Fucking broad. She spends half her life dressing, the other half...undressing!" Frank let out another short burst of laughter at this, along with an obedient Omar, now standing nearby facing the couch.

"She's coming," Frank's guard called over from the bar.

"You got to catch her in between," Tony added, now sitting low in the couch.

"You got to jump on her when she's not looking," Frank agreed, smiling.

"Yeah, that's the best time," Tony said, taking a drink and prompting more laughter on Frank's part.

"Hey, what are you guys doing tonight?" Frank suddenly asked. "You wanna go to a nice restaurant with me? You hungry?"

Tony visibly thought for a moment, before replying "I could eat a horse."

Frank smiled widely at this. "Okay, they're gonna cook you a horse," he grinned.

"Allright, I'll eat it," Tony replied, grinning back. Their plans set, Frank asked Manny about the gunshot wound he received from the botched drug deal. Before Tony could listen in, movement at the edge of his sight caught his eye, and he turned to look.

Entering the third floor elevator was a woman unlike any Tony had ever seen. Somewhere around 30, she wore a long, shimmering aquamarine v-neck dress, held on by jewelled straps crossing her bare back and with a side slit skirt showing off her heavenly legs with every movement. Her shoulder-length bob cut was platinum blond, and she walked aloft in golden high heels.

Tony found himself watching, entranced, as the angel descended to the group's level in the elevator, back turned, one hand on the capsule's handrail and the other on her hip. The Cuban was surprised to find that despite the gin, his mouth was dry, and his heart was pounding in his chest as the beauty exited the elevator on their floor, came around a pillar and walked towards them.

At her arrival, Frank abruptly ended his conversation with Manny and, turning in his seat, addressed her. "Elvira, where the hell you been?" he asked irritably. "It's 10 o'clock, baby, I'm starving." Tony realised with considerable dismay that the object of his desire was the girlfriend of Miami's most powerful criminal.

Elvira continued past the group towards a small open coat room, unfazed. "You're always hungry," she countered haughtily. "You should try starving."

Frank looked confused as Elvira walked past them and into the coat room. Seeing Elvira for himself, Manny shared Tony's look of awe as Frank stood up and walked towards her.

"Where you going?" he asked, frowning. "Come on, come over here! I want you to meet a friend of mine, come on." Frank took the impassive Elvira's hand as she emerged from the coat room, now carrying a small golden make-up case in her free hand. Tony and Manny rose to their feet to greet her. "Tony Montana," Frank announced, beaming, "Elvira."

Elvira gave Tony a customary smile and a good-natured "hello," but Tony could only smile and nod slightly like a fool before Frank and Elvira repeated the process with Manny, who also said nothing, but grinned widely instead. Frank watched the exchange with another growing smile.

"So, there are five of us," Elvira commented casually, looking in her make-up case for something. "Where are we having dinner?"

"I thought we'd go the Babylon Club," Frank announced, arms wide. Tony struggled to prevent his eyebrows raising instinctively in surprise. The Babylon Club – second home to virtually all of Miami's rich and famous. Elvira, however, looked somewhat less pleased.

"Again," she sighed, rolling her eyes as she closed her case.

"Again," Frank agreed, still smiling - this time out of amusement at Elvira's answer.

"You know, Frank," Elvira said, looking directly at Lopez, "if anyone ever wanted to assassinate you, you wouldn't be too hard to find."

"Assassinate me?" Frank repeated. "Who the hell would to kill me? I got nothing but friends!" Frank laughed heartily at his own joke, turning back to Tony and Manny as he spoke. Manny grinned back, but still taken aback by Elvira, Tony could only stare after her as she rolled her eyes again and headed towards another doorway leading out of the main room, passing Omar on the way.

"You never know, do you?" Elvira called back as she left, sounding somewhat annoyed. "Maybe the catcher on your Little League team."

Although "Little League team" was laced with contempt, Frank seemed not to notice. "The catcher?" he echoed. "That son of a bitch, he didn't get a base hit all season! I should kill him!" He cackled.

Still laughing, Frank set his glass down and headed for the main exit, Omar following close behind him. Tony and Manny, after the latter had taken a final swig of his gin, followed suit – followed in turn by Frank's guard. Thoughts of Elvira danced through Tony's head as he led the others after Frank and Omar. Time to end the night in style.

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As always, R&R. Next up – The Babylon Club. Hopefully sooner this time.