The Thief, Lover
Okay, I totally have a secret (IT”S NOT A SECRET) crush on Myles Clohessy so I was thrilled to spy him in The Thief. Lover! It is a nice balance of light hearted romance twisted up with intrigue and I am, as always, totally here for it!
The High: The chemistry between Robert (Myles Clohessy) and Maria (Emma Reinagel) is wonderful! I feel like I am watching their romance unfold before my very eyes with every deep look and sly smile. These two actors are great together!
All spoilers and no filters ahead.
Here she is, the lovely sticky-fingered Maria, working and stealing her way through life to support herself and the beloved orphanage she grew up in taking out the trash and getting accosted by Robert, the mob boss who only sometimes has to flee for his life. As they meet in a back alley to avoid the thugs (literally their character names in IMDB) Maria starts smooching Robert to trick the thugs by wearing the exact same thing he was wearing when they first started chasing him, the only difference is there is a girl attached to his face. But thugs be thugs, so they run off in another direction. Maria can’t just do a good deed out of the kindness of her heart, so she steals Robert’s watch as her reward.
Robert is impressed with Maria’s skills and wants to hire her which she refuses after learning he’s a mob boss. He buys the restaurant she works in, so she quits. She’s working and cheating in a casino owned by Robert which allows him to drag her off to his room and make an offer she can’t refuse. She tricks him into undressing and letting her tie him to the bed where she runs off in his clothes and then 3, 2, 1…she’s kidnapped. I know, it came so early in the story this time.
Her kidnapper one ups Robert’s offer by kidnapping her orphan sister from another mister, Rachel, and threatening to hurt her if she doesn’t get close to Robert. Maria might be a thief, but she wouldn’t do a friend dirty, so she agrees to the masked man’s demands. Maria returns to Robert and agrees to work for him. She does also get his commitment to give the orphanage money to run itself.
Now these two are dressed up for a party where Maria learns her task is to get the engagement ring of Robert’s fiancée, Eve (Noémi VanSlyke). Obviously, he’s madly in love with Eve…JK it was a business deal of course, but the incredibly powerful mob boss isn’t powerful enough to avoid vows with a woman he doesn’t want. That is so VD…(Vertical drama, obvs.)
Maria kisses Robert to lure Eve into a confrontation to get the ring. When Eve shoves her down the stairs, Maria sees her opening and lets nature, and gravity, take its course. When Maria gives the ring to Robert, he declares it a fake, but later gives it to his bodyguard (cappo / manservant?) and tells him to keep it safe. He also tells him to spread the rumor Maria is his lover and to move her to the room next to his.
Maria contemplates her fate and wonders where the masked man is. He is able to get into mafia territory and tells her his task for her, find Robert’s father’s diary. She begins her search, but is stuck in Robert’s room when Robert and Eve enter the room. Maria hides but is discovered when Eve tries to seduce Robert and he uses it to his advantage, implying they were going to make love.
Maria thinks the ring is fake so she continues on her quest to get it from Eve, and Robert keeps helping her as a means to keep her with him. Eve tries to buy Maria off to walk away from Robert but it was a ruse for Maria to be caught in the finance room which is forbidden. While Maria is in the room she has memories of being in the room as a child and discovers a (VERY POORLY HIDDEN) safe with a photo of her family. The consequence of being in the forbidden room is a beating and banishment. Robert offers to take the beating for Maria and they fall asleep side by side (cause they lurve each other).
Robert’s cousin (job title is actually listed as chaos specialist) arrives, and now we totally know who the masked man is. Robert and Jackson are clearly at odds with threats going back and forth. LOL, the masked man leaves a calling card (literally like printed business cards) with a map showing where to meet him. The masked man threatens her and Rachel again but Maria has no idea where to find it, so he demands she stays close to Robert, so Maria worms her way into an outing with him. Robert witnesses Maria being flirty with the target, which makes him jealous, At the meeting, the target double crosses Robert, and when Jackson comes in, he kills the double crosser in front of Maria. She has nightmares and Robert sings to her to soothe her. Maria finally trusts Robert enough to show her the picture of her family and maybe my favorite line, “You’re not like the other mobsters.” Robert replies, “I’m not like the others when I’m with you.”
Eve tries to get Maria to steal a ledger that she claims Robert was in charge of but another family stole. Maria smells a set up, but bargains with Eve that she’ll do it for her engagement ring. Maria manages to sneak into the office, but seems to just have the skills to steal it, not to actually make it out. Of course, Eve set her up and sent a note and picture to the holder of the ledger. Robert manages to show up in the nick of time. When dealing with Eve and her father, Robert reveals that Maria’s family was a member of the FAMILY and avoids the consequences of her actions. Maria is torn by her feelings for Robert and completing her mission. While lurking, Maria learns Robert has been lying to her about the ring being fake.
Eve and her father demand Robert marry Eve, but he reveals her ring as a fake and states he has fallen in love with someone else. Maria doesn’t understand that he’s talking about her and starts panic packing when Robert finds her and tells her he was talking about her the whole time. They finally make love. Maria was going to confess to Robert about her involvement with him when Jackson arrives and interrupts the conversation. The masked man reveals he wanted the diary to prove Robert is adopted, but seeing Robert happy is angering him so instead he tells Maria to leave him. She imagines Robert finding out she’s a spy and dreams of him killing her.
As she’s leaving she takes a minute to reminisce in Robert’s room, but someone comes in after her so she runs off and hides. We see Jackson and another man enter and Maria hears Jackson’s voice and knows he’s the masked man, but she can’t see who it is. She goes to the casino looking for Robert to tell him about the ambush she overheard, but it’s too late. Maria reveals to Robert that she is a spy and he sits down with her to hear her tail. When she touches him he jerks his hand away and when he asks how he’s supposed to believe her she explains that it started as a mission but she loves him. Robert doesn’t trust her and says she should return to the orphanage.
Robert returns home and Jackson calls Maria back into action. Robert worries Maria isn’t safe and wants to get her out, but Maria wants to counter attack. She said she told the man she has the journal and she and Robert devise a trap for the mysterious man. The mysterious man sees Robert’s men watching but think they’re following Maria because Robert doesn’t trust her, not because she’s teamed up and was setting a trap. While dealing with the man, she plucks a button off his shirt and devises a plan to track him through his laundry. Robert was terrified of losing her and confesses he loves her. Maria demands she move in with him.
Robert’s staff has loose lips and Jackson easily finds out their plan and knows Maria is no longer on his side. He burns his shirt, sends Maria a meeting note and kidnaps her as soon as she opens the door. Robert returns to a missing Maria and the meeting note from the masked man. Maria comes to blindfolded and recognizes the masked man is Jackson. He proceeds to terrify her, but Robert arrives too soon for Jackson to hurt her. Robert finds out it was Jackson and quickly tracks him down.
Jackson tries to reason with Robert and tells him he won’t get away with it. Robert tells him that if he left Maria alone Robert might have been able to overlook it and keep him around. After Robert exacts revenge on Jackson he’s confined because he took matters into his own hands. While perusing the shelves Robert comes across his father’s journal he didn’t know existed. Jackson still manages to rock Maria’s world telling her that Robert father was the one that killed her parents. Robert is reading the journal and it reveals Maria’s parents were traitors. When Maria asked if he discovered how they died, Robert tells her she’s the daughter of traitors and she can’t be in his world so he kicks her out.
Robert sends his minion to search deeper into what happened to her parents. The journal reveals that Robert’s father was shocked by the betrayal and because of their many years of friendship, he was turning a blind eye to their leaving, but along the way someone tampered with their car and caused the accident. To protect her, Robert sends Maria away. Maria returns to say goodbye to Robert and after tricking him into thinking they were going to fuck on his desk when she pulls a knife and demands to know if his father was the one that killed her parents. Robert tells her his father only kicked them out and Maria tells Robert she’s done with him.
Maria returns home to the orphanage. A month later Maria is trying to find peace but Robert is never far from her thoughts. Robert is getting regular checkups on Maria but is concerned she looks frail. Robert’s minion delivers all the evidence to Robert and he states it’s time to clean house.
Eve is watching her father, Carl, frantically pack, confused why they’re leaving. Carl says all his people have been wiped out and nothing will stop Robert, not even Jackson’s support. Robert reveals what Carl did to Eve and she defends him and Robert calls the behavior inexcusable then his minions carry Carl off.
Maria is trying to old get over an old guy by getting on top of a new one and goes out on a date. She sips wine and is sickened (OH, an oops! baby?). Maria cuts out of the date and immediately stumbles into Robert. Maria asks if he’s spying on her and he said he was following her to keep her safe. While they’re arguing Eve turns up and shoots at them. Luckily the gun jammed and Robert was able to overpower her. The secret of Maria’s family comes out and Robert tells her he wants her back. Maria isn’t having any of it. She says all of it without telling her the truth is just him not being able to trust her or that she can handle his life. Robert takes Maria home and Maria stomped off. Rachel goes kung fu ninja on Robert and says too much to let Robert know Maria still has feelings for him (Oh, nope, no baby, just chocking on her wine and thinking of Robert).
Robert changes tactics and decides to stay at the orphanage to try to change Maria’s mind. He finds a flyer asking for volunteers and uses it to get his foot in the door and Robert moves in. Robert tells Maria point blank he’s there to win her back. Maria tries to set Robert up with impossible tasks but Robert won’t be defeated easily. Robert is winning her back piece by piece but she’s still tortured by thoughts of their romance. One night she wakes up and Rachel and the orphanage director are tied up by Jackson. He tells Robert he needs to sign a will to save Maria and her friends but Jackson doesn’t keep his word. Maria distracts him and Robert is able to get free with the help of her quick hands. Robert’s henchmen come in and take control of Jackson.
Maria is feeling all the feelings for Robert and tells him she’s still in love with him. Robert tells her he loves her too. The series ends with Robert and Maria getting married.
Spicy Highlights:
Episode 1: Robert grabs Maria, presses her body to his and covers her mouth with his hand. Maria and Robert make out in the alley to “trick” the thugs chasing him.
Episode 7: Maria ties Robert to the bed. She covers his eyes with another tie and begins unbuttoning his shirt. Somehow undresses him though the ties because he starts completely dressed but is somehow wearing just boxers in the next shot still tied to the bed. Gotta love Vertical Dramas and it’s ability to suspend reality and apparently physics, LOL.
Episode 9: To get Eve’s attention, Maria pulls Robert in for a kiss.
Episode 13: Robert takes his shirt off in his room while Maria is hiding behind the curtains watching.
Episode 20-21: Robert and Maria fall asleep together in his bed.
Episode 37: Robert and Maria declare their love for one another and make love.
Episode 49: Maria takes a sip of wine and kisses Robert to share with. They work together to unbutton his shirt and make love on the bed.
Episode 55: Maria comes in and sits on Roberts lap. With their faces close together Robert says he can send her off later and picks her up and puts her on the top of his desk, leans over her and begins kissing her neck.
Episode 75: Robert and Maria kiss on the bed.
