Chapter One

‘This book is about the Italian Mafia, which is based mainly on the Italian mainland and Sicily. As such, when the main characters talk to each other sometimes it is in Italian, if you do not understand Italian I have translated the words into English in the brackets. The Italian speech is to make the storyline more authentic and I believe it enhances it. It will not distract from your enjoyment of the plot or the characters. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you

‘Porta il bambino da me’  [Bring the child to me]

Don Giovanni commanded and his men obeyed instantly, dragging the helpless Nanny and her little charge from the room they had been locked in since the coup three days ago.  

Marcia, the Nanny, was terrified, she was just nineteen and had been appointed Nanny to the child a month ago. Straight out of college, she had not been able to conceal her joy at landing such a prestigious position with her first application. Her friends had been so jealous when she told them of the handsome rich Italian who had hired her. His wife had died and he needed someone to care for his five-year-old daughter, the salary was amazing and she got to live in a fantastic villa on the island of Sicily. When he interviewed her he had shown her pictures of her room and the villa, telling her she would have most nights off and most weekends too. He had promised to introduce her to the many young people who lived nearby so she could make friends. It had seemed like her dream job with the bonus her employer was a very hot single Daddy. When he had offered her the position she had been wild with joy accepting it on the spot but what was the old saying,

‘Act in haste, Repent at leisure’

Well now she could see how true that was she thought wildly as she faced the powerful man who had brought her peaceful little world crashing down around her,

‘Let go of the child’

The Don commanded her coldly and Marcia allowed two of his men to take Alcina from her grasp. The little girl never even turned back to look at her Nanny, following the two Guards obediently she already knew what the bad men were going to do to her. She may only have been five years old but she already knew the way the Mafia treated women and she closed her mind to the horror that she knew was coming. One of the Guards gripped her little head forcing her to turn and watch as the Don leaned forward and said to her,

‘Ora bambina, questa sarà la tua vita quando sarai abbastanza grande. Una puttana ti ha dato alla luce e così sarai una puttana proprio come la tua mamma’. [Now little girl, this will be your life when you are old enough. A whore gave birth to you and so you will be a whore just like your Mummy.]

He gave the signal to his men and they stepped forward their eyes dark with lust at the pretty young English girl. Marcia looked around her and knew the look on their faces, she was a virgin but she was not stupid and screamed when the first one tore at her clothes. The Nanny fought back but she was soon over powered and naked and the men threw her on the floor in front of the grossly obese Don. His eyes were huge and he was aroused by what was about to happen hungrily watching as Marcia was held down so he could see everything when his number two knelt between her legs,

‘Hurt her’

He wheezed and she screamed in pain as the man rammed into her mercilessly, Giovanni watched with pleasure as one after the other of his men followed his number two and Marcia was raped repeatedly, her pathetic screams eventually dying away as she lost consciousness.

Looking at her in distaste he stood up and moved his enormously obese body across to the little girl who cringed away but showed no fear only disgust at his size. Grabbing her tiny hand he placed a gun in it and closed his fleshy paw around hers tightly. It hurt her but the child did not react instead she stared solemnly back at him her face blank,

‘Hai un bambino scelto, uccidila o tutto ricomincia quando si sveglia’ [You have a choice child, kill her or it all begins again when they wake her up]

He grinned down at her maliciously, it looked so incongruous, a pretty little girl with a deadly weapon. Alcina blinked and looked across at her Nanny, the young woman groaned and then whimpered in pain she was coming round and Alcina knew the screaming would start again the men would not stop they were disgusting animals. She remembered what her Father had taught her so patiently,

‘Sometimes in life, we must do things we do not want to do, either to help something or put it out of its misery’

He had told her gently after he had shot their dog, it had slipped its lead and been hit by a car and even to her young eyes she could see it was suffering. She had been three years old and it was a hard lesson to learn but it was not the last act of violence she witnessed.

Alcina was the daughter of a Mafia Don and she loved her Papa totally, from the moment she could walk and talk he had taken her everywhere with him teaching her the Mafia Code in ways her young mind could understand and accept. She was clever and learned quickly, after he had shot the dog he bought her a small gun and taught her to use it but her Mama had been appalled.

‘She’s three years old let her have her childhood for Gods sake’

Her Mother had berated her Father but he had carried on teaching her

‘She is my daughter and she will need to know how to defend herself against our enemies’