LucianoWhen I was sixteen, I'd gotten a bullet lodged in my arm during a mission. We were supposed to retrieve a batch of smuggled piranhas by the coast and I had been pretty stoked about it for two reasons. One, it was the first mission I had total control and utter authority over. The mafia lord then had slowly descended into a state of madness, hiding from everyone and suspecting even his own shadow. I suppose when a man takes lives for a living, he reaches a point where he starts to fear for his life. His Consiglieres had decided that I was a young lad filled with promises and I had the ruthlessness to lead a squad of ten men down Sicily to retrieve their goods. And I was fucking excited. I'd chugged down a bottle of beer for good measure, revved around the street on my bike with Luca in tow. We screamed around town like banshees, laughing our heads off and when night came, we hauled our asses to the port by the coast ready to seal the deal. But then Luca slipped up. He tick
Athena“Raven!” Luciano yelled behind me. I could hear the anger in his voice. HYe must be pissed that I hadn’t taken the opening he had created for me. Like hell I would. Frederick’s killer stood right before me, smug like the arrogant little bastard he was. There was no way I would just turn away and walk out like a damned coward. I was going to avenge him. If it would be the last thing I’d ever do, then so be it!Q“You bastard,” I gritted through my teeth. My head pounded with a rather massive headache and my vision was a bit blurry. It had to be from the hit I had taken earlier. The faster I got this over with, the faster I could get the hell out of here. “What’s wrong Raven,” Damian taunted, a sly grin on his face, “You look a little… out of sorts.”“Out of sorts? I’ll show you out of sorts!” I screamed, shooting wildly at him. The bastard jumped out of the way, turned on his heels and dashed out of the place. Without a second thought, I bolted after him. “Raven!” Luciano yell
AthenaI could barely believe my ears. I had to be truly out of my mind or I was hallucinating. “Oh you didn’t know?” Damian said slyly and shook his head. “You really are letting me down, Athena. I would think that it was pretty obvious.”I dug my fingers deeper into the soil before me, anger pulsing through my veins. “Speak clearly, you bastard!” I screamed. “And why should I?” He taunted, walking to stand before me. I glared up at him, feeling every fiber burn in anger when I saw the smug look on his face. “It was fun, I’ll admit, Watching you chase after your Father’s killer, when he is right here. I hadn’t figured out exactly who yo8unwere until the night you infiltrated the mafia house.”He laughed wildly, throwing his head back happily. I suppose he had cause to be happy. He had me fooled completely and even worse, he most likely had killed my father. “Ah Athena,” He chuckled. “It was quite amusing to watch, I had no idea who he was though. Until you found that book and disc
LucianoI was fucked. It took bravery and courage for a man to admit that. No less, a man like me. But I knew I was fucked. I ducked behind a standing pillar. It was a part of the wall that connected the living room to the bedroom. Raven's bedroom. It fucking irritated the shit out of me that a blissful place like this was blown to bits. It irritated me more that my best friend was behind this. I never in a million years would have expected that betrayal. I never would have predicted that the boy I had eaten from the same plate several times, for over ten years, would grow up into the man who currently sprayed his bullets everywhere while I hid like a fucking coward behind walls.Raven, Athena.. fuck Cara, had taken the only gun we had and while I understood that she did it all out of anger and perhaps love, if I dared to hope, I was without a weapon in a weapon fight. And I would not last long. The only thing I could do right now, would be to wait for Luca to waste his bullets
LUCIANO“I can not believe he would do such a thing,” Giorgia muttered glaring down at Luca’s unconscious form on the ground. Her eyes glittered with tears and I watched her blink rapidly.Tearing my gaze away, I looked down at the jackass. The one I had called brother for as long as I could remember. There was no saving us, was there? He had betrayed the mafia and in turn the mafia would betray him as well. ]Fuck. How the hell was I supposed to handle this?> I’d rather he hadn't put me in that position at all. He should have just stayed put! Whatever.. Hell, whatever he wanted I would have given him a million times more!I ;turned around, not wanting to see him. I couldn't waiver on my decision. Luca had to die. Giorgia must have seen the determination on my face because hers whitened in horror and she gulped. “You can’t be serious,”“I didn’t say a thing,” I grumbled in my defense and heard her scoff.“I know you!” She hissed, stepping closer. Itr was then I noticed her get up. S
LucianoI had only been truly afraid twice in my entire life. The first time was when I watched men murder my parents. I was just a boy. Barely five, kicking around the covers my Madre had carefully arranged. I hadn't wanted to go to bed that night. There was this new train track toy padre had gotten and I was so damn antsy to play with it. My mother had forcefully yanked me away from it, scrubbed my face red in the bath despite my whining, yanked a onesie down my head and gave me a sweet kiss right after tucking me in. I had yelled that I didn't want her kisses, I just wanted my train track. And she laughed. So beautifully, turned her head to the side to look at me and told me I was much like my padre. Too damned obsessed with everything.She wasn't wrong. She was never wrong. I should have stayed in bed that night. But I was glad I didn't. I was glad that I had snuck out of my room, tiny feet carrying me down the hallway and freezing in their steps when my eyes took in the sight
AthenaThe sky was looking so damn pretty tonight. A deep blue, littered with silver dots that gleaned down at me. Too bad the only reason I could see it was because I was hanging off a cliff, hanging on to a branch, trying not to fall to my death. The fight with Damian had escalated. I had chased him through the entire forest, but somehow the bastard remained faster. He was too fucking sneaky. Even with his injured leg, he managed to outsmart me and dodge my attacks. But then we had gotten out of the forest into a clear open space and he couldn't run anymore. I had done the most obvious thing I could do, I attacked him. It had to be the fiercest brawl I had ever engaged in. I was fatigued and tired, but I couldn't let the bastard get the best of me. We fought for what seemed like hours. Struggling to breathe, struggling to survive. I would die. I was fine with that. With Frederick gone, there was nothing to fucking live for. But there was no way I could die without Damian going f
LucianoFear was such a shitty feeling. It had this way of clawing at your heart, nicking it so that it bled in the wrong places. Two whole fucking hours and I hadn't seen Raven yet. I hadn't heard a thing either. Not Ater that scream from earlier. Fuck! I didn't know what to think. I didn't even want to. It would be all morbid thoughts and I refused to think or imagine in the slightest that Raven was dead. But that gunshot. Fuck. And that Scream. She better not die. I would not allow it. I would never allow it. As if you could do anything about it, the nagging voice in my head, my only companion in the past two hours, nagged again and I wish it was a real human so I could smack the shit out of it. I was coiled with so much tension. The only way to ease it was to find Raven. "Cara!" I yelled through the forest. This was my fourth time going through the entire damned place and I was either walking in circles or this forest had malicious intent. Perhaps it was because I was faint
LucianoThe police man standing guard at the gate didn't even bother to check my face, I took it that the warden had done his job and informed them I was on my way, I drove quietly into the compound, packing in front of the administrative building and walking in slowly."Good Evening Signori Luciano" The officer standing at the table greeted as soon as he saw me, tipping his hat. His English was broken and heavily accented, but I could understand him enough."Good evening," I reached into my coat, fishing out my cigarette and lighting it. "How is it going?"He smiled appreciatively, apparently pleased I took any interest in his day to day activities. "It haz been quiet Signore." He smiled, revealing a row of tobacco stained brown teeth.I nodded, "Good, I am here for inmate 474.""Oh," he opened up the computer in front of him, "Would you be going out with him?" He asked, peeking at me from over the desktop, "Do you need an escort?"The look on his face told me he thought I was going
AthenaWe were on a plane back to Sicily the next morning. No need for disguises, we took of from a private airfield in New Jersey.As soon as we touched down, ten hours later, I saw a black limo by the tarmac. Luciano smiled as he saw it, "Our welcoming party is here."I raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean welcoming party?""Don't get your hopes up," he said, "It's just Giuseppe."The old man was standing by the car, smiling widely as we walked towards him. He first greeted Luciano, pulling him into a giant hug, like he was his father, patting his back, pride in his eyes.He then turned to me, "Welcome back to Sicily, Raven," he said, extending his hand. "How was your flight? Was it good? Are you too tired?""I am good." I said as I shook his hand, feeling a surge of pride at the way he addressed me. It was clear that Luciano had already told him about me, and that I was already considered a member of the mafia."Thank you, Giuseppe," I said. "It's good to be back."Giuseppe smiled,
AthenaI was confused, totally. And for the second time that night, I had no idea how to react, "Luca? What? How?"Luciano hobbled over to the table at a dark corner in the room, pulling out a knuckle ring and putting it on his left hand. "I figured he would need a little bit more time." He said casually, like the man he was trying to beat up wasn't an assassin sent by his worst enemy and had damn near succeeded too.I turned to look at him, understanding dawning on me, why he wasn't panicked at all, why he was so calm. There was only one reasonable explanation. "You knew this was going to happen." I said quietly.He stopped his rummaging, turning to look at me, "Raven-""Did you?"He let out a deep breath, "Yeah, well, kinda. I only sus-""You did!" I said, my voice getting louder. The man had shot from my back, he had to be facing Luciano, and given how close the two buildings were, it was impossible Luciano hadn't seen him walk in and set up his little nest. "That's why you aren't
Athena"Raven!"Somewhere, far away, someone was calling my name."Raven!!!"The room blurred into a burst of moving colors around me, a ringing in my ear as in the distance, I could only barely hear the sounds around the room, the people screaming, glasses shattering, tables and chairs toppling."RAVEN! GET DOWN!"A second loud bang, hitting the table and shattering it jerked me out of my trance, sending splinters of wood flying across my face, narrowly missing it.I threw myself to the ground immediately, taking cover and toppling the table to provide extra cover for me and Luciano.The shooter was obviously targeting us, for some reason I was not entirely sure of, and he had shit from behind me, hitting Luciano.I crawled over him, not caring about the broken glass tearing at my clothes or the floor, wet with wine and soggy pasta. He lay they, clutching his bleeding shoulder and grimacing."Luciano! Are you okay?"He nodded, "Yeah, I am fine," but as soon as I reached out to touch
AthenaThe meeting went without much of a hitch. I sat at one end, quietly watching the proceedings as they argued over everything. It was mind of amusing, seeing these grown, powerful men squabble like children.Curses flew across the table like missiles, mothers were cursed, fathers were cursed, wives were cursed, calling it a mad house would be a massive understatement. Luciano for the most part, looked like he was tired of their shit, as at some point he just leaned back on his chair and let them threaten all they wanted without trying to interfere or even mediate."Everything in Queens and the North of Brooklyn is mine, don't be a fool." Antonio spat, crossing his arms like a child who had just been refused candy and was planning to throw the biggest fit anyone had ever seen."Damn right it is," Francesco countered, slamming his fat, heavily ringed fingers on the table, "All of the best markets for our good stuff all go to you yeah? And what is there for the rest of us yeah? What
LucianoI didn't want to admit it to her, mostly because making her even more nervous than she was already was, wasn't exactly in my best interest, like throwing a gasoline soaked rag into an inferno.But I was a but nervous too.The Italian Mafia, wasn't very used to having a woman in it's ranks, no matter the level. There was this, almost patriarchal approach to treating our women. Usually seen, not heard, taking care of the kids at home while the husband did the dirty business and fucked his pretty mistresses. Nobody thought of it too much, it was just the way things were done.But not with Raven, never with Raven.I almost laughed out loud, thinking about her being a nice, quiet housewife who just kept my clothes clean and my belly full while I went after young girls half her age. It was so ridiculous, it didn't even come close to making sense to me, which of course meant the idea was going nowhere.The only other option was of course to try to convince them that she was worth it,
AthenaI sat up from the bed, still a bit groggy, but quite certain I heard him properly."My new associates?" I asked, surely he wasn't serious right?I followed him into the living room of the suite, dimly lit room, decorated with ornate furniture and dimly lit candles. Luciano sat on a velvet armchair, while I stared at him, unsure if he was serious or not. nervously paces the room.Luciano leaned back, observing me, "Raven, my dear," he started, "I don't see any reason why we don't go check it out today, okay? It's time for you to understand who we are and what we do."I appreciate your interest in making me feel at home," I couldn't help but lace my voice with some sarcasm, it was getting ridiculous, "But getting involved with your Mafia is not something I was comfortable with, I only just agreed with it, cam you let me digest it at the very least before plunging me head deep and showing me off like a trophy."He looked up at me, raising an eyebrow, "Do you think that is what I a
LucianoFunnily enough, I had never thought about that question until I heard it from her mouth. You'd think a mafia boss would be a little bit more suspicious of an undercover FBI agent who was sent to specifically bring him down and who had up till very recently, bad a specific agenda against him and was determined to destroy him by any means necessary.But I didn't. I consider myself a logical man, and logically I should be moving as far away from this wam as I possibly could, if not immediately killing her. But whenever I was around Raven Gonzalez, all logic flew out the window, and I wanted nothing more than to have her around me, to keep her by my side, to keep her happy so she would never leave me, matter how illogical that sounded."Oh, Luciano." She said quietly, tears brimming in her eyes. "You don't mean that, do you?""Every single word of it." I said calmly. It was true, there was no point hiding from it anymore."That's not enough Luciano, and you know it.""Raven, I jus
AthenaYou had to give it to Luciano, he had the entire "shock value" thing down well enough.To say I felt like I had been hit by a bus moving a thousand miles per hour would have been a massive understatement. I had spent all day thinking about escaping the world he offered, the world I had been forced to grow in, the world I had forcibly participated in for all my life, that had nearly killed me multiple times and had scarred me so much it was probably best not to even think about it.I had confided in him, hoping he would help me find a solution to my problem, to have something akin to normalcy in my life, even if it was for a little while.And instead, he had completely blindsided me with the offer to accept it all as my new reality.Like I said, he really knew what got a woman going."What?" I managed to drop, my only intelligible word yet.His lips twitched as he fought to not smile, "You look pretty surprised Raven.""I wonder fucking why Luciano," I spat, frustration rising in