He had told her Mother quietly, that everything he did was measured and quiet, he had never raised his voice to his young daughter, he did not have to, she hated it when she saw the sadness in his eyes. Alcina was too young to understand the sadness was not aimed at her it was for the life he knew she would have to live as his daughter. Everything she did was to drive that sadness from his eyes and make him proud of her. When he smiled and told her he loved her she was his ‘Speciale angioletto’ [Special Little Angel] he would say swinging her up into his arms it was all she needed. She loved him so much he was her world, being with him, and learning about the Mafia made her feel special and on the rare occasions he left her with her Mama she hated it.
‘Come Alcina we will go and visit with my friends they have little girls your age. You need to play with them and do things other little girls do’
Mama meant well but Alcina hated those days because she had nothing in common with the silly pampered children she was expected to ‘play’ with. They would inevitably be dressed in cute frilly dresses, lacy white ankle socks and black patent leather shoes. Their mamas fussed around them telling them not to get dirty, not to play with the rough boys, not to climb the trees, not to do anything that might be remotely fun. Alcina was very different to these little girls, she hated wearing those dreadful restricting dresses and by the time she was four refused to put them on. If her Mama tried to make her throw huge tantrums and deliberately tore them or rolled around in the mud she had to be changed. When she had destroyed the fourth of these expensive garments her Mama gave up and let her strong-willed little daughter wear what she wanted. The other little girls would look at her enviously when she arrived in jeans and t-shirts, she did allow her Mama the concession of wearing pink t-shirts. She was always with the boys, climbing trees, riding bikes and getting dirty, anything they did she could do better and she quickly became the Leader of their little gang. The other Mothers tutted and told her Mama she was a disgrace and should not allow her daughter to run wild like that.
‘She needs a firm hand, that one’
Was the consensus of the majority and when her Mama tried to explain it was her Papa’s influence they shook their heads and smiled condescendingly at her. Alcina did not care she was always happier playing with the boys, she had nothing in common with the girls, all they talked about was going shopping for clothes and growing up enough to wear make-up. They were scandalised by Alcina’s behaviour and her refusal to wear dresses and stay clean but she saw through their vacuous comments and saw the jealousy in their eyes because she dared to be different.
Papa had taught her well and she showed no emotion now as she raised the gun and aimed it very carefully. Her hand was steady she knew what to do and she would not let her Nanny suffer any more. She knew these men would not show either of them any mercy, there was no escape for Marcia and it was as if she understood this was her release. Already the Guards were talking about what they would be doing to the poor teenager this time and it was intended to cause her as much pain as they could. Alcina did not understand the crude words, saying double or triple penetration but she understood the intent and saw the look of terror in the Nanny’s eyes as the Guards circled her again.
‘I am so sorry, may you find peace in the arms of Our Lord, forgive me please’
She whispered as the Nanny’s tortured eyes met hers and she registered what that monster of a man was going to make this little girl do. Taking a deep breath Alcina closed her eyes and then with an impossibly steady hand for one so young she squeezed the trigger. The bullet was deadly accurate hitting the young Nanny between the eyes and killing her instantly. The recoil from the gun knocked the little girl to the floor but she showed no emotion as she got to her feet brushed herself down and handed the gun back to Don Giovanni. He was astonished and impressed by her strength of will and her lack of emotion, standing before him her face impassive it was hard to believe she had just shot dead her own Nanny. His Guards actually crossed themselves, muttering about how could such an angelic looking child be so cold-blooded.
‘Santa Maria, Madre di Dio, prega per noi peccatori, ora e nell'ora della nostra morte. Amen’ [Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen]
They prayed fervently, brought up in Catholic homes they were deeply superstitious and this beautiful, tiny, angelic looking child freaked them out.
‘Come poteva essere così calma?’ [How could she be so calm?]
‘Lei è la bambina dei Diavoli’ [She is the Devils child]
They whispered amongst themselves staring at her wide-eyed in fear.
Alcina remained silent still not making eye contact with any of them and she was very angry with herself,
‘How stupid could she have she been? The stupid fat man had given her a gun so why hadn’t she used it to shoot him?’ She thought biting her bottom lip and forcing herself not to cry, she had not shot the fat man because he was holding her beloved Papa prisoner and she would do anything to keep him alive. The fat man caught her chin and looked into her beautiful blue eyes,
‘Bene, beh, il tuo papà ti ha addestrato correttamente, vedo. Chissà cos'altro ti ha insegnato, piccolo Anton? [Well, well, your Papa trained you properly I see. I wonder what else he has taught you, little Angel?]
He let her go and waddled back to his chair dropping his bulk into it he turned his beady eyes to his Guards and snapped at them ‘Portalo qui’ [Get him in here]
She dug her nails into her small palms and not one single tear left her eyes, clenching her small fists she bravely looked into her Papa’s eyes,They were identical to her own, a brilliant blue that took your breath away, the Moretti eyes he told her, only a true Moretti had them. She saw him blink once and caught her breath, that was her sign, Papa had taught it to her.As soon as she was old enough to understand what he wanted her to do, he told her that if he could not speak then he would blink once to let her know how much he loved her. She blinked back and he smiled although it clearly caused him pain through his spilt lips, instantly she looked at his hands and he managed to make a circle with his thumb and forefinger. She knew what that meant as well, he was telling her to be brave, that she was a Moretti, and they never showed any sign of weakness to the enemy. When she looked into his eyes again he blinked once again and she did the same adding a tiny nod of her head to show s
A tiny sob escaped her lips and out of the corner of his eye he could see they were covered in blood, she had bitten them so hard to stop from crying out he was amazed at her stoicism, He sighed, she was such a beautiful little thing, far to young to have witnessed all this brutality, his estimated she was probably about six years old but no more. ‘I’m sorry’He began gently taking hold of her tiny cold hand,‘Tuo padre è morto e i miei uomini devono spostarlo. Non puoi stare qui e non puoi andare con lui. Devi venire con me' [Your Papa is dead and my men need to move him. You cannot stay here and you cannot go with him. You must come with me]He stood up and held out his hand and was surprised when the little girl pushed herself to her knees and kissed her Papa’s cheek and whispered in his ear.‘Ti amo papà e prometto che un giorno quell'enorme uomo grasso pagherà per quello che ti ha fatto.‘ [I love you Daddy and I promise one day that huge fat man will pay for what he did to you.]
At the moment the little girl’s tummy rumbled so loudly there could be no doubt about her hunger and she blushed then giggled and suddenly she was a child again and it was so endearing he laughed to.‘Dai, tesoro, ti diamo da mangiare.’ [Come on Sweetheart lets feed you.]He carried her to their canteen and picked up a large hot dog and fries then watched her devour them hungrily barely coming up for air,‘Caro Dio, povero piccolo mio, stai morendo di fame.’ [Dear God, you poor little thing, you’re starving.]He went back to the counter and purchased two large cookies for her and was rewarded when her pretty little face broke into a huge grin,‘Sono per me?’ [Are they for me?]Carefully placing the glass of milk she had been drinking back on the table,‘Sì, mia piccola principessa, ho pensato che, dato che hai due mani, potrebbe piacerti un biscotto per ciascuna di esse.’ [Yes my little Princess, I figured that as you have two hands you might like a cookie for each of the them]He tol
When they had finished they printed off half a dozen copies, then emailed it to their direct Superior, the Commandant, as well as the President of Sicily, the Sicilian Media and then the icing on the cake they had sent it to the British and American Media explaining who they were and why they were sending it to them exposing the misogynistic attitudes of their Bosses. After handing over the paper copies to their Boss thy had picked up their bags and left with their heads held high. Needless to say the storm of protests that followed kept the Sicilian Police Force embroiled in ‘Equality’ litigation for years much to the delight of the Mafia unfortunately for the two women it backfired spectacularly as no one else would employ them, they were blacklisted as troublemakers and whistle-blowers. Their fate was sealed when the Commander had a word with his good friend the local Mafia Don and the two women disappeared over night as the Mafia could always use fit healthy young women. They were
Alcina’s Aunt, her Mothers much older Sister arrived from Scotland three months later, the Italian Authorities had only just remembered the little girl had been left in their care. The Coroner had finally released her Fathers body for burial and when they discovered her Father had no living relatives they had hastily searched through their records to find her dead Mothers next of kin . When they contacted her Aunt they had told her she must come and collect the child, little Alcina had a British passport and dual Nationality and as far as the Sicilian Government was concerned she was her Scottish family’s problem not theirs. They were afraid of the powerful Mafia Dons, and they wanted this pretty little problem removed from their island as soon as possible.Lady Annabella Truro was quite a lot older than her little sister Maria, twenty five years older to be precise. Everyone had been shocked when their Mother had produced a baby girl at the age of 50, they had all thought she was me
She would wink saucily at him knowing it would arouse him and she was always right within minutes he would jump up from his seat throw her over his shoulder and race away to the nearest private room so he could enjoy her body with wild rampant sex. Maria never turned him down, her sex drive was as high as his and she matched him in every way, demanding he took her harder, faster, deeper loudly screaming his name as he brought her to orgasm repeatedly. The other Dons coveted Carlos's mad young wife, they openly tried to charm her away from him, but only succeeded in angering their wives and mistresses by comparing them to her. Of course, it only alienated her from the other women, they openly criticised her and called her a whore for adoring her husband and enticing their men even though she had done nothing wrong. She was happy with Carlos and it did not bother her what the other women thought of her, they had four years of blissful happiness and fun until she got pregnant. It shocked
She soon realised he enjoyed punishing her, he never hurt her deliberately, and everything was consensus, Maria found she wanted him to dominate her like that. They both adored their tiny, beautiful daughter, a real Daddy’s girl lighting up whenever he returned to their house and holding out her hands to be lifted by her Papa. He would swing her into the air and make her scream with laughter, she was afraid of nothing knowing she was safe in her Papa’s arms, neither of them was prepared for Maria’s death or the decision by her Father to cut all contact with her English family afterwards. Carlos should have explained it was to protect them but all his concern was centred on his now Motherless tiny daughter. Maria was kidnapped by a rival Don when Alcina was three years old, Don Pelligrenni had coveted her since the day he had been introduced nearly a decade before. His lust for the pretty English girl had led him to bide his time and plan his actions, no one suspected he carried such c
What they told him made his blood run cold, the other Don had taken her for one reason, sex, he had lusted after her for so long he had snapped and no amount of reasoning would stop him, he had to have Maria.Maria had changed into her short silver sparkly Vera Wang mini dress, it was one of Carlos’ favourites and she wanted to please him as he had sent for her to join him at his nightclub. She hadn’t stopped to think how strange this request was or that it had been from one of his men, Carlos never sent messages through his men. Instead, she had been so excited at the thought of a night in the club with him that she had ignored all the red flags, he never called her on their land-line, got one of his men to call her, or went to a club after a meeting and finally he would never have sent a strange car to collect her when he had a fleet of his own to choose from. Maria had stupidly ignored all those signs and rushed out of the villa where a strange man held the car door open for her, s