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10. The Plan
Last Updated:
2025-04-18 18:27:35
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Becoming The Mafia Queen 11. The Encounter
SOFIAAfter six days of coming to the gym and hoping to run into Adrian, I was beginning to wonder whether I wasn’t just wasting my time. For six whole days, I adjusted my arrival time to make sure Rafe Costa and I walked in at practically the same time. Every day I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Adrian, but it seemed like an impossibility at this point. What exactly was I doing wrong? Had I been wrong in my investigation? Had he changed gyms perhaps? Or did he secretly show up one day, recognize me and decide that he didn’t want to deal with that?Surely not. If he had set foot in this gym, I would have known. And there was no way he would show up here and Rafe wouldn’t be with him. Over the last few days, I noticed him staring at me a couple of times, and it always made my heart skip a beat. He hadn’t spoken to me at all, but we’d crossed paths enough times for me to know that he recognized me now. It made me wonder if I could somehow use that to my advantage. But that woul
Last Updated : 2025-04-19Becoming The Mafia Queen 12. The Ghost
ADRIANOf all the ways a woman could get your attention, falling off a stair climber and landing in your arms wasn’t one I’d expected.At first, I thought it was just an ordinary stranger. I wasn’t paying any attention to her. But after she fell into my arms and I stared into those familiar eyes, my blood turned cold as I remembered that night. And I remembered her name. Sofia. How on earth was she in my gym? Even as I sat in traffic after leaving the gym, I still couldn’t figure out how she wound up there. Coincidence? Surely not. When you’ve lived the kind of life I have, you come to realize that there’s no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. And the woman who’d haunted my dreams for several days now suddenly showing up in my gym certainly couldn’t count as a random coincidence. She looked different somehow, but not so much that I wouldn’t be able to recognize her. She still had that guarded look about her, and she seemed a little more sure of herself than
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Becoming The Mafia Queen 13. The Sacrifice
SOFIAI read somewhere that when someone turns to the dark side, the first thing they must cut off is their friends and loved ones. I told myself that over and over again until I started to believe it myself, and I accepted that if I wanted to enter this dangerous world of scheming and deceit, I would need to cut off everyone from my old life. But sitting across from Valentina, the only person who had been there for me since day one, it seemed like an impossible task.“So are we going to talk about it?” she asked calmly. We were sitting across from each other in the living room, the silence stretching between us like an invisible hand and wrapping around us tightly. “Talk about what?” I asked, feigning ignorance.“The fact that you’ve been pushing me away, Sofia,” she said. “I haven’t heard from you in weeks. I keep trying to reach out, but you don’t answer my calls or reply my texts. I’ve texted you everywhere I possibly can, but you always ignore my messages. And I’ve been here ov
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Becoming The Mafia Queen 14. The Interrogation
SOFIAThe strange thing about working out consistently is that after a while, even though my main intention when I first started coming to gym was to get closer to Adrian, I actually started enjoying it. I could feel myself getting stronger, and I was so proud of myself for that. Even if I didn’t manage to infiltrate the DeLuca family, at least I’ve achieved something from doing this. But running on the treadmill for half an hour will take all the energy out of you, and leave you feeling lightheaded. Thirty minutes after walking into the gym, I was exhausted but happy. Sure, every bone in my body felt like it was going to break, but at least I’d checked it off my list today. And since neither Adrian nor Rafe decided to show up today, I had nothing else to keep me here. I was just about to step off the treadmill when the door opened and I saw him.Rafe.He strolled in like he owned the fucking building, dressed in all black with a hoodie draped over his shoulders and a smug look on
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Becoming The Mafia Queen 1. The Truth
SOFIAMy father always said that only a stupid man would walk into a casino with the hope of winning anything. The smart ones walk in there with the hope of finding out about themselves, and they are the ones who walk out with more than they walked in. I was five years old when he taught me that. Now, I'm twenty-four, and I'm not standing in a casino but the stakes feel just as high. "You're crazy," Valentina said. "Aren't we all?" I replied, glancing over at the tall, grey-haired man who was in deep conversation with a steely-eyed woman who looked like she was bored out of her mind. "If this works, we could both make it in by next summer.""Yeah, like the admissions officer is just going to hand you an opportunity to attend the most prestigious school in America," Valentina said. "Seriously, you're going to get us in trouble.""I'm not going to ambush him," I said. "Come on. What do you take me for?""You're not?" she asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Then what are you going
Last Updated : 2025-03-14Becoming The Mafia Queen 2. The Funeral
SOFIA“Miss Moretti?”I looked up slowly, blinking at the detective sitting across from me. He was staring at me in that sombre, touching way that you would look at a fragile piece of glass that was about to explode. His partner actually had to wipe a tear from her eyes as they sat across from me. Behind us, the police were still walking all around the apartment, taking pictures and talking excitedly. Hearing their voices all around the apartment made me want to throw up. My head was spinning, and I just wanted to lay down for a bit. “Miss Moretti, anything you can remember will be very useful,” he said. “I understand how difficult this must be for you, but the sooner we get this information out of your head, the better it will be. Details get muddied after some time, and we prefer to get them right after a crime has been committed.”I blinked at him silently, unable to bring myself to speak. What exactly was I supposed to say? How could I reveal the horror of what I’d witnessed ear
Last Updated : 2025-03-19Becoming The Mafia Queen 3. The Bridge
SOFIAI don't remember most of what happened in the days after dad's funeral. I mostly just locked myself away in my bedroom, trying to make sense of the world. For days on end, I would mostly just roll out of bed and sit by the windowsill, desperately trying to get myself to move even though it wasn’t going to happen.And the worst part was having to walk past the spot where the incident happened. Even after scrubbing it with bleach for hours, after airing out the entire house and even moving things around so it would look different, it was still impossible to walk into the living room and not relive the entire incident again. I was slowly losing my mind, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. The pain, anger, sadness, loneliness and depression all wrapped up around me like a suffocating blanket, and I just couldn’t shake it off no matter what I did. It was always there, constantly breathing down my neck and holding me captive. So I stayed in my room and tried to let the darkness c
Last Updated : 2025-04-03Becoming The Mafia Queen 4. The Stranger
SOFIAThe sound of speeding cars woke me up. My eyes fluttered open slowly, and the next thing I knew, I was staring down at the depth of the East River, bent over the railing while someone held onto me tightly. My head spun, and I screamed as I jumped back and nearly flew straight into traffic. “For heaven’s sake, calm the fuck down!” someone yelled behind me. A pair of arms suddenly yanked me back, and I slammed into a warm chest. The strong arms wrapped around my waist, holding me back as I nearly jumped into traffic. “Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?” he said. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?”“Let go of me!” I cried. “Let go!”“The hell I will,” he growled. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” “It’s none of your concern,” I said, desperately trying to punch or bite or kick him away, but he was too fucking strong. It felt like I was pinned to a wall, unable to move even a single muscle. And no matter how hard I tried, he just wouldn’t budge. “Only a fool would
Last Updated : 2025-04-06
Latest chapter
Becoming The Mafia Queen 14. The Interrogation
SOFIAThe strange thing about working out consistently is that after a while, even though my main intention when I first started coming to gym was to get closer to Adrian, I actually started enjoying it. I could feel myself getting stronger, and I was so proud of myself for that. Even if I didn’t manage to infiltrate the DeLuca family, at least I’ve achieved something from doing this. But running on the treadmill for half an hour will take all the energy out of you, and leave you feeling lightheaded. Thirty minutes after walking into the gym, I was exhausted but happy. Sure, every bone in my body felt like it was going to break, but at least I’d checked it off my list today. And since neither Adrian nor Rafe decided to show up today, I had nothing else to keep me here. I was just about to step off the treadmill when the door opened and I saw him.Rafe.He strolled in like he owned the fucking building, dressed in all black with a hoodie draped over his shoulders and a smug look on
Becoming The Mafia Queen 13. The Sacrifice
SOFIAI read somewhere that when someone turns to the dark side, the first thing they must cut off is their friends and loved ones. I told myself that over and over again until I started to believe it myself, and I accepted that if I wanted to enter this dangerous world of scheming and deceit, I would need to cut off everyone from my old life. But sitting across from Valentina, the only person who had been there for me since day one, it seemed like an impossible task.“So are we going to talk about it?” she asked calmly. We were sitting across from each other in the living room, the silence stretching between us like an invisible hand and wrapping around us tightly. “Talk about what?” I asked, feigning ignorance.“The fact that you’ve been pushing me away, Sofia,” she said. “I haven’t heard from you in weeks. I keep trying to reach out, but you don’t answer my calls or reply my texts. I’ve texted you everywhere I possibly can, but you always ignore my messages. And I’ve been here ov
Becoming The Mafia Queen 12. The Ghost
ADRIANOf all the ways a woman could get your attention, falling off a stair climber and landing in your arms wasn’t one I’d expected.At first, I thought it was just an ordinary stranger. I wasn’t paying any attention to her. But after she fell into my arms and I stared into those familiar eyes, my blood turned cold as I remembered that night. And I remembered her name. Sofia. How on earth was she in my gym? Even as I sat in traffic after leaving the gym, I still couldn’t figure out how she wound up there. Coincidence? Surely not. When you’ve lived the kind of life I have, you come to realize that there’s no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. And the woman who’d haunted my dreams for several days now suddenly showing up in my gym certainly couldn’t count as a random coincidence. She looked different somehow, but not so much that I wouldn’t be able to recognize her. She still had that guarded look about her, and she seemed a little more sure of herself than
Becoming The Mafia Queen 11. The Encounter
SOFIAAfter six days of coming to the gym and hoping to run into Adrian, I was beginning to wonder whether I wasn’t just wasting my time. For six whole days, I adjusted my arrival time to make sure Rafe Costa and I walked in at practically the same time. Every day I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Adrian, but it seemed like an impossibility at this point. What exactly was I doing wrong? Had I been wrong in my investigation? Had he changed gyms perhaps? Or did he secretly show up one day, recognize me and decide that he didn’t want to deal with that?Surely not. If he had set foot in this gym, I would have known. And there was no way he would show up here and Rafe wouldn’t be with him. Over the last few days, I noticed him staring at me a couple of times, and it always made my heart skip a beat. He hadn’t spoken to me at all, but we’d crossed paths enough times for me to know that he recognized me now. It made me wonder if I could somehow use that to my advantage. But that woul
Becoming The Mafia Queen 10. The Plan
SOFIAWhen I was eight years old, I once walked in on my father having a conversation on the phone which sounded suspicious. He was in his home office, and his laptop was open while he stood on the balcony and talked loudly to someone. I just wanted to show him how I’d finished the puzzle games on my tablet, but I was distracted by something flashing on his laptop screen. I don’t remember exactly what I saw that day. But I remember seeing a number so huge that my tiny brain couldn’t even comprehend it. And then I heard him say something about wiring, bypassing some sort of firewall or something, and then he said something about offshore accounts. It didn’t make any sense to me then, which was probably why I blocked it out of my memory. When he walked back in and saw me staring at his laptop, he didn’t get upset. Instead, he made me sit on his lap and he started talking to me about the internet, and how every inch of this earth was connected digitally. You just needed to know how to
Becoming The Mafia Queen 9. The Meeting
SOFIAFranco's funeral was held at St. Agnes Church. It was a quick and short ceremony, and there were only a handful of people there. I sat in the back and watched the entire thing, while a numbness settled over me. And when the coffin was carried out to the graveyard, I stayed a short distance away and watched as he was lowered into the ground. After the burial, I made my way to his grave and placed the roses I'd bought on his headstone. Even though I wanted to cry as I stared at it, I steeled myself and simply stood up. I was dressed in all black, with a scarf around my head and large sunglasses. So I could walk away without anyone recognizing me. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Or maybe being inconspicuous was my own way of coping with the tragedy. But there was no way I would be expected to believe that this didn't have something to do with the flash drive. I mean what were the odds that someone would break into his office a day before we met, ransack the place but not take an
Becoming The Mafia Queen 8. The Decision
SOFIAI didn't sleep that night.I kept tossing and turning for several hours, staring at the ceiling in the darkness of my apartment, with the only sound being the ticking of the clock on the wall and the occasional car driving by. I kept seeing my father's face every time I closed my eyes, and it was impossible to sleep when I kept thinking of that. His voice echoed in my mind, his final words clinging to my chest like a weight I couldn't quite lift.‘Only you can fulfill this task.’What kind of task was this? What kind of daughter avenges her father by plotting with another criminal? It made me feel disgusting. Like I was becoming the very thing he wanted me to destroy.And yet, someone had to do it.I rolled over and grabbed the flash drive from my bedside table, and I held onto it like it had the answers I was looking for. The reality of what I had in mind was starting to dawn on me, and it seemed a million times crazier the more I thought about it. Could I really pull this off
Becoming The Mafia Queen 7. The Idea
SOFIAThis could not be happening. This absolutely could not be happening. I stared at the laptop screen in shock, refusing to believe what I was looking at. There was no way this could be true. It had to be some sort of sick joke. How on earth did this happen? How could the nicest man I'd ever met in my life possibly be a criminal? It didn't make any sense. I refused to believe this. And what were the odds of something like this happening? He was just a random stranger. So how did he end up standing in the exact spot he needed to be to rescue me before I ended my own life? It all seemed too convenient. And I started to wonder if there was something sinister behind all this."Sofia?" Franco called tentatively. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost.""I-I'm alright," I replied nervously. "He just looked like someone I know, that's all.""Him?" he asked, pointing to Adrian's picture with a look of pure terror in his eyes. "I don't think you want to know someone like him
Becoming The Mafia Queen 6. The Video
SOFIAI woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating on the bedside drawer, and I slowly rolled over and dragged it towards me. I reluctantly swiped on the call without even checking who it was, then pressed the phone to my ear. “Hello?” I said groggily, rubbing my eyes. “Good afternoon, Miss Moretti,” an unfamiliar voice said. “Is this a bad time?”“Yes it is,” I said. “It’s way too early for this.”“Um, actually, it’s a quarter to one,” he said, causing my eyes to fly open. I glanced at the clock, and saw that it was indeed 12:45. I immediately glanced around the room, looking for something I wasn’t entirely sure of. Something about the room looked different, but my memory was too foggy to remember anything. “Miss Moretti?” the man said. “It’s Franco Martell. We spoke at your dad’s funeral, remember?”“Oh right,” I sighed. “The attorney, right?”“Exactly,” he said. “I was wondering if you could come down to my office on 5th Avenue. It’s sort of an emergency.”That immediately caused
