***
When I wake up, I’m at home. In my room at the mansion. My mouth feels dry and taste bitter. I throw the blanket off and drag my body to the bathroom I move slowly but I don’t feel sick anymore.
Godfather Alonzo and Greco are dead.
As I shower, I try to wrap my head around all that crazy. Because that’s what it was crazy.
But N
*** One year later… My little Micaela stares at me with dark blue eyes. A mop of jet black curls around her forehead and pink rosebud lips pout at me. I remember the day I birthed her. After five hours of labor the Salvatores welcomed their newest members. My perfect daughter. Born only five minutes after her brother. My Micaela likes being carried. The moment you put her down she opens her cute little mouth and screams like hell. Thankfully her father is always there to indulge her. Tommy still hasn’t forgiven me for naming my daughter after my faithful bodyguard. He thinks Thea would have been a perfect name for
Past… “I’ve got an excellent idea,” I say after taking a deep breath, a wide grin on my face, the phone on speaker beside me on the table as I bring a teacup to my lips, I am still smiling as I blow on liquid for a second before bringing it up for a sip, I smack my lips, frowning a little as I add another half spoon of sugar, looking at Maria out the corner of my eye to ensure she doesn’t see me exceeding the required daily sugar intake recommended, she’s nothing if not anal about these things. I wouldn’t say I was a sugar lover in particular. Sweet things? Yes, but sugar? I didn’t think so, these days, between my mother, Gianna my best friend, Dr. Andera, and Maria to watch my every move and every single morsel I put in my mouth? I feel like I'm under siege sometimes. Maria will first of all do a mental calculation, Is it nutritious enough? Healthy enough? Then contact Andrea for confirmation then we can know if it can be included in my diet. And did I mention my husband gave t
Throwing back the now lukewarm tea in one gulp, I empty my cup before standing from the chair, and walking past the kitchen island. Apparently, I’m not allowed to use the kitchen stools anymore for I might fall from the two and a half foot high stool and hurt myself all because the skirt of my dress got tangled with the legs of the stool I was sitting on last week, causing me to trip and bump my hip a little against the island. I didn’t even try to argue that I’m not that accident prone, I should just be glad it didn’t get me banned from the kitchen again. Just as I’m about to place the cup in the sink, Laura appears from somewhere and relieves me of it. “Let me help you Ms. Lola,” she says. I don’t try to tell her it is just a cup and I can rinse and put it away myself. It’ll just fall on deaf ears like every other complaint I've made in the past month. Also because Maria will give them a hard time when discovered, and she always finds out somehow, if I didn't know better I'd
The first thing I wanted to do when the idea came to me this morning during my walk in the garden was to find my phone and shoot a quick text to Niko. But I talked myself out of it, mostly because I hadn’t exactly figured out what I wanted to go into then, I also wanted to share my splendid idea with my friends, and now I’m glad I did because my conversation with them helped me gain perspective. Now that I have, I’m tempted to the so again. But the concerns raised by Eva and Gianna are quite sound and I wouldn’t want to rush into anything, thereby shooting myself in the foot. Because they’re not exactly wrong. He might very well say no. Niko can be difficult sometimes. Obviously, I have to approach this rationally. By buttering up my husband. I would try to be sly about it but Niko always sees me coming from a mile away, might as well be very straightforward, with some bribery of course to sweeten things up a little. I mean who doesn’t like a little bribery? ** Maybe I s
Niko is standing in front of the closed door. In a charcoal suit, matching shirt, and an equally black tie. He looks like the dark and dangerous I’d dubbed him when I snuck out of my boarding school and ran into him a year ago. Unaware that I was to marry him. He knew exactly who I was of course Then he’d been perfectly dark. He still is. And like the first time I saw him, my heart skipped a beat. “You’re here” Niko pushes away from the door, coming around the table until he is standing in front of me his gaze fixed on me. “You look beautiful, baby” I go up to him, as he leans down to press a swift kiss to my lips. “Thank you” Finally, his eyes take in the candles and flower arrangements then narrows on me with slight suspicion. “This is different” he repeats. My fingers smooth up the soft material of his suit jacket before coming to link together behind his neck “What do you mean by different?” I laughed playfully “Get that look off your face Niko, can’t a girl decide
For the next three days, I pour myself into researchingeverything I can find on event planning and management. From papers, to journals and watching videos I find on the internet.The week after that, I’d get up in the mornings, after my walk and breakfast. I continue studying from where I left off the day before in my balcony where I’ve set up my computer, some stationary I ordered from Amazon and snacks. Taking notes and jotting things down, reading from ebooks. Its amazing how much you can learn online, everything you need is literally at your finger tips these days, it’s a wonder why people go t collages.I suppose to earn a formal degree, but the internet is really informative.Everyone imagined I would have moved on from the idea after a few days but I was determined to prove them wrong. On the third week I found and registered for an online course. I’d just round of with my studding for the day and on video call with my mama as I inform her on my doctors appointment earlier,
Once again, I can't help but wonder why my cousin has to secure his place, as the only living male son of Manuel Cancio, which makes him boss in Chicago, simple and short. I was absent when Niko took over, but from what I heard there was some tension as is to be expected when there is a change in power, also another reason my mama concluded with Niko to send me away, excluding the fact that I was young, just fifteen, but I dont think it was this bad. They’re only able to this this because my cousin is young and level-headed, compared to Niko, I don’t even see Thomas allowing this kind of insubordination. “They are asking too much, two for the price of one” and by one, I mean one ally. Weddings in the family are a sure way to gain support and allies, If Katherina were to join the Rizzo family, then Carlos should join with another family, what utter nonsense for them to suggest this. It is a wrong political move, even I who is just learning about family politics will advise my cou
I continued with my studying for the next few days that followed. Excluding weekends, of course, I can’t seem to get anything done when I know he’s home. As I am, my emotions are all over the place and Niko is being very patient with me, I rope him into playing card games with me and Marie-Lu one Saturday, and the little girl anxious at the start, her cards clued to her lips, looking away from him as I explain the rules of the games to Niko, most of them made up by Marie-Lu and I, of course. Halfway into the game, she begins to relax, enough to win the first round, I win the next hand and Niko wins the next three. Gasp! So Marie-Lu and I gang up on him in the next hand, even resorting to hid cards behind me, tossing a wink at Marie-Lu to go with it when she frowns, she nods with a small smile. He still managed to win. I'm trying not to let the frustration get to me as we lose yet another hand, a smirk on his lips as he picks up the decks, shuffling it between his fingers, a diffe
My uncle was right, everything will change from now on, the Grecos, Mendoza, and the Oriente arms of the New York Families are no more. Though we weren't particularly friendly with the other two, it wasn't required for the business. The Greco’s however have always been closely allied with the Salvatores, it wasn’t because of that friendship that Julio was my father's right hand and his father before him, as capo it was my decision to choose my right hand, but for decades, that honor belonged to the Greco’s, until Julio fucked it up. With them gone, there is a gap, in the prominent families, and someone needs to take over for the business to run smoothly. As things settled, I just wanted some peace to be with my family, my children, I already missed so much. It was something I would never retreat, I kept them safe. I did what had to be done, even though it hadn't been my Knife in their throat or my orders. My actions lead to their deaths. And their deaths created a power vacuum, one
**“We have to leave here, get to another safe house we don’t know who else- this place has been compromised” Arms wrapped under my arms trying to pull me away. I was staring blankly at the Man I'd grown so close with. I didn't know what to do.“We can’t leave him here” Tears spilled down my cheeks. “You think I want to leave him? He was like a father to me, but I have to protect you, he would want you to get to safety”“Miguel…”“Now Lola, Now." he shook me "We have to-“ a phone ringing cuts off the rest of his words. Miguel bends down and searches through Matteo’s jacket to retrieve his phone. I crawl back to him lifting his head into my lap, spatches of blood stained my jeans as I run my fingers through his hair. “Please Matteo open your eyes,” I begged softly.He couldn’t be gone. He felt warm despite the blood pooled on the ground beneath him, he couldn’t be gone. He couldn’t...“It’s Matteo…” I hear Miguel say to the other person on the phone “He’s gone” is all Miguel says
I straightened at the sound of a car pulling closer. I know it isn’t Miguel as he’s in the next room, slowly tiptoeing to one of the windows and pushing back the curtains, “Lola don’t do that-“ “It’s Matteo” I gasped in recognition at the dark hair and family face of the man that exists the drive's seat. “It’s Matteo” I repeated “He’s here!” I announced as my heart began to race in my chest. “Stay here, stay down” Miguel ordered, as he headed to the door a gun in hand. I remained at the window, clutching my rounded belly with a shaky hand, the other fisted around the thick curtains as I tried to listen to their exchange. It went on for about half a minute but it was too long and then Miguel crossed back to the porch, he disappeared from my line of sight, and I moved to the door. The bottom of my oversized jeans dragged on the floor over my bare feet as I had left the zipper undone to accommodate my large bump. I’m standing behind the door when it opens and Miguel says “It’
“That puta was whoring around dirtying the family line-“ she gurgles, choking as red spills from a thin line across her throat. A hand flew to her neck eyes wide in shock. No one was allowed to speak of that, I took pains in ensuring it remained that way. The consequences would be devastating. I look at the blade in my hand then swipe the napkin beside her tea set to wipe the little blood at the end. I turned around and came to a stop at the dark figure at the entrance. Fuck. “Is it true what she said?” I observe his stance, the pistol hanging loosely at his side, my brows furrowed as I tried to figure out how long he’s been standing there, how much he heard, I let out a sigh, “Tommy…” He sucked in a deep breath, his empty hand clenching into a shaky fist. “Did you know?” Tommy asked calmly. I grit my teeth and wipe the blade once more, then I return it to the sheath strapped to my wrist, soothing down my sleeves to keep it hidden. I turned to my brother fully and asked “Wh
Bang! Bang! Bang!!! Gunshots sound as I make my way down the hall of an Italian-styled penthouse. The enemy tries to return fire, but they are quickly overwhelmed by my men. Martino Greco led me to Valentina's hideout like a mouse to the cheese. Pained grunts and shocked yells followed by the thuds of bodies heating the ground, and then quiet. Hmm. I walk in smooth strides past pools of blood, bodies littering the polished wooden floors noting the soldiers Valentina called from her mansion in Italy, I frown at the sight of a falcon tatted on one of the fallen men’s forearms, seems she hired some mercenaries also. Splendid. Last night Valentina sent her men to Mendoza and Orinete households while they slept and took them out in one swell move. It is why I can break in with little to no resistance, half of her man power is gone. Danilo inclined his chin at me then motioned up silently a gun in hand, corked and still at the ready. Chase and Emilio stand beside him each o
I stared out the window on the ride back. Like the two times we’ve gone out, I remain in the car while he checks the property, when he signals all clear I open my door and move to the back to get the kids. Miguel goes around the other side and gets started on Angelo’s seat, he undoes the strap holding the child to the seat and then unhooks the chair fully so he can take it inside. “Want to tell me what happened at the clinic?” he questions as we walk. I shook my head nothing. “You don’t really expect me to believe that do you?” “What makes you think I did anything." “Excluding the fact that you looked guilty as hell when we got back, there’s a tear glued to your lashes" he pointed one end of his bottled water at me, "Why were you crying” We entered the cabin and I unstrapped the kids to let them run free. “I just needed to use the bathroom quickly” I paused helping Angelo to his feet. “I called him” I admitted. His expression remains unchanged. “You don’t seem surprised
NIKO That evening I left using one of the hidden exist. There's a car parked under the bridge, I pull up behind it, leaving the engine still running as I look out the window, moments later a male form, wearing a black oversized coat blowing the wind takes long steps in my direction as far as his short legs can carry him, the side door opens and he drops down beside me, the smell of tobacco that follows him where ever he goes fills the car. I make no effort to his my frown. Excluding the fact that it was a shitty habit that kills the liver, I imagine it would make stealth impossible if they can smell you from a mile away. And I preferred to leave no traces, unless it was a warning that is. I have half the mind to ask him to exit my vehicle before he saturates it with his unpleasant smell but I need him tonight so I decided to play nice. “How did it go?” Martino Greco smacks his lips once, “Just as you expected boss, Maxim sent another offer, I did as you said while showing some
LOLA I’ve been teaching my twins simple words and pointing out items around the house for them. I once read that kids need contact with other people and other kids to stimulate growth, and I’ve been doing what I can to fill that role. "Nana" Angel mumbled pointing at the banana when Miguel walked past eating a banana last night.It is also his favorite fruit. Micaela liked peaches.I also roped Miguel into watching some soap operas airing every evening with me so I’d have something to look forward to and someone to discuss with. Soap operas were always better when you had someone to discuss them with. He acts like he hates them but I swear he secretly enjoys them. He finds it hard to understand the motives of the main antagonists and often wonders why the ‘good guys’ give so many chances.No one is that inherently good. Miguel had said when the main female character got played for the fourth time in twenty episodes. It's plain stupidity. he added his two cents, I shook my head with
NIKO -Months later... “Who can we count on?” Tommy asked his chin on his jaw. In front of me at the other side of the desk Matteo cleared his throat and the other turned to him, “Brenadi, Orisi, Ajello, the Sances are a given" he tips his head. With Chase one of my trusted enforcers the head of the Sances family, it was a given, I trusted him to keep his house in check, the others however, "The others will need more convincing" Matteo added voicing my exact thoughts. “That’s four out of twelve” Vincent grunted unable to hide his displeasure. “How can Valentina have eight over us, the bitch has been in Italy for almost three decades," Tommy growls. “Exactly, lots of families owe her favors, she ran this family before us with an iron fist and she never fully removed her claws while my brother was capo, that’s nearly four decades of loyalty from the New York families. "Enough time to amass a fortune's worth of secrets and debts to call in, moreover, a number of the men are too sca