3

~ RACHEL

Kai and I walk into the dining room together, where Dad and Uncle Joe are sitting. Uncle Joe is Dad’s older brother, who is Kai’s father. I go over to them and give both of them a quick kiss on the cheek before taking my seat.

"So, how was everyone's day?" I ask, grabbing a napkin and placing it on my lap. The maid walks in with the food and starts serving it.

Dad starts, "I had a rough day."

"If it's about the flush, don't worry, I already called the plumber. He's on his way," I reassure him, knowing what had caused his frustration.

"Well, he's taking forever to show up," Dad complains.

"We've got plenty of other toilets in this house. You can take your pick until the plumber arrives," I suggest

"He’s not gonna take a pick, you and I both know that the old man had a thing with his toilet," Uncle Joe teases, causing me to chuckle and agree with him.

As the maids finish serving us, we all join hands to say Grace. It's a special tradition that Dad, being a religious Christian, believes in. According to him, saying Grace before every meal not only nourishes our soul but also helps us be more productive. Even though I may not personally share the same belief, I still go along with it to make Dad happy.

Dad leads the Grace with a heartfelt prayer: "Dear Lord, we thank you for the food we're about to enjoy and for the gift of life. We also pray that you shower your mercy upon those in need today."

"Ameen," Dad says, and we all join in, repeating the word together.

As we dig into our meal, Dad interrupts the silence with a playful remark, "Just so you know, Joe, I have the absolute best toilet. No others can compare!"

I could already tell that Dad wasn't going to let that claim slide, and Uncle Joe was ready to prove him wrong. It was all so silly, and I couldn't help but sit back and laugh. It's funny how they went from almost tearing each other apart years ago to being close brothers again. I guess sometimes, it takes going through tough times to truly appreciate the worth of a relationship.

Finally getting fed up with the toilet talk, Kai speaks up, "Can we please not talk about that during dinner?"

"Seriously, I'm disgusted of it too," I chime in.

"Alright, we'll save it for later," Dad agrees with a smirk, looking at Uncle Joe.

"Oh, I'm sure we will," Uncle Joe replies with a mischievous grin.

"Anyway, Uncle Joe, how was your day?" I ask, taking a bite of lamb.

One thing I love the most about dinner is that we all get to talk about our day. It’s always fun and so nice to have that stress of the day release your shoulders by talking about it.

Uncle Joe responds with his usual nonchalant attitude, "Same old, nothing much to talk about."

"I expected that from you," Dad chuckles, then turns to me with a mouthful of mashed potatoes, "How about you, Delilah? How was your day?"

"Eh, it was alright," I reply, taking a sip of wine, "Kai got everything ready for our next mission, you know, firearms and explosives."

Uncle Joe curiously asks, "And who's this mission against?"

"The Maranzano's," I casually respond

I can feel Dad's gaze on me, but I choose not to acknowledge it. He's never been a fan of anything related to the Maranzano family. He's convinced that if I keep getting involved with them, I'll regret it, but I don't believe it. The Maranzano's are weak. They could never hurt me.

"You’re still working on it," Dad finally speaks up.

"Yeah, Dad," I respond.

"Delilah, I've already told you..."

"Dad, please," I plead, cutting him off. "I've already made up my mind. I won't back down until they pay for all the wrongs they've done."

"I don't know about that, I just don’t want them to hurt you," Dad expresses his concern.

"I have the advantage here. If anyone's going to get hurt, it'll be them," I assert confidently.

"I'm not sure about this, Delilah. I don't trust them," Dad admits.

"But you trust me, right?" I ask, seeking reassurance.

Dad hesitates for a moment before responding, "Yes."

"Then I need you to trust me on this," I insist. "I’ve got everything under control. I won't let anyone harm me or put our family in danger."

Dad looks at me intently, his eyes filled with worry. "I know you're strong, but these kinds of situations can be unpredictable."

I take a deep breath, trying to convey my determination. "I understand, Dad. But I've trained for this, and I won't let anything or anyone stand in my way."

Dad nods, still not completely convinced. "Alright, but you have to be careful. And I'm not just talking about the Maranzano family, but everyone else. I don't want any enemies coming after us," Dad warns.

"Trust me, Dad, no one is going to attack us," I reassure him.

Dad wasn’t happy when I decided to join the Mafia, he initially wanted to put everything behind our back and just move on but I couldn’t do that, I wanted revenge and luckily for me, Uncle Joe was there to support me. He led me through everything and that’s how I got to where I am today. I may not be a popular mafia king like Richard Maranzano was but I am twice as powerful as he was.

As we continue to eat I recall something "Uncle Joe, I noticed you stuffed the old warehouse out of town with some goods, what is that about." I casually ask taking a sip of wine

Uncle Joe and Kai exchanged glances, and it got me really curious. I couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?" I look between both of them, eager to know what was going on.

Uncle Joe breaks the silence and explains, "It’s nothing to worry about. It's just that I wanted to renovate the whole place as a little gift to Ezra. He always wanted to start a business that isn't a part of our world so I decided to just help him out, you know,"

Dad joins in with a bit of laughter in his voice, saying, "That's really nice of you, Joe. Although I have to admit, I didn't expect my birthday gift from you to be that warehouse, especially since you once tried to kill me in it."

"Well, in my defense, you were trying to take over what's rightfully mine."

Dad scoffs and retorts, "Come on, Joe. Do you still believe it's yours? I owned that diamond fair and square."

Uncle Joe counters, "You didn't own it, Ezra. It was ours, but you made it yours."

Dad emphasizes, "How is that ours? You know I don't like sharing things, right?"

Realizing that the conversation is about to become heated, I step in and say, "Okay, Dad, we get it. It's your diamonds, and you don't want to share them. Can we just drop the conversation now?" I demand, not wanting to hear them argue.

Those diamonds, Dad and Uncle Joe are talking about are the root of all our problems. Ever since my dad got his hands on them, it seemed like chaos followed. I don’t know much about their history, but I was told they are rare and priceless, which made them even more coveted by everyone. The diamonds are like a curse, attracting all sorts of trouble. They were the reason why Richard Maranzano and his father made that whole plan of theirs. And they were also the cause of the constant tension between my dad and Uncle Joe.

Taking a sip of wine, my phone starts to ring. I glance at the screen and see Carter's name flashing. Carter, my trusted tracker, he started working for me to investigate Richard Maranzano, and now he’s still working for me and still, it’s about Richard Maranzano.

I excuse myself from the dining room and step outside to answer the call. "Hello," I say as I pick up. Cater responds to my greeting and I ask eagerly, "Do you have any updates for me?"

Carter's voice sounded serious. "Yes, ma'am," he replies. "Richard Maranzano is still on the hunt for you. He has a whole team working on that, it doesn't seem like he's going to give up anytime soon."

"Ohh I see."

"What should I do to them, do I distract him again?" He asks

I take a moment to think about it. It’s been two years since Richard Maranzano has been going up and down in search of me, I don’t know what he wants exactly but I think he wants to see how burnt I am but that’s okay because I’m no longer the person he thinks I am.

"You know what, Cater." I say confidently "Let him find me. It’s about Richard Maranzano and I meet." Carter acknowledges my words and I end the call.

I have been anticipating this moment for a very long time and I believe I’m ready. It’s time we get this over with.