Four

I gritted my teeth as I stared hard at Don Alessandro. He was poking me, trying to rile me after what happened between us last night and the situation we presently found ourselves in. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me lose my composure.

It wasn’t worth it and he wasn’t worth it either.

“What was that all about? What money was exchanged between the both of you?” Maya asked, her eyes darting from her father to mine.

She opened her mouth to speak again but a glare from Don Alessandro forced her to shut up.

I let out a groan as I massaged my temple. As satisfying as seeing the embarrassment on Maya’s face was, a small part of me wished that the past 48 hours of my life never existed.

I stole a glance at my father to see him silent, his face was rigid and he hadn’t uttered a word yet. I wondered if he regretted picking Miguel over me but I knew he would rather die than admit to making a mistake.

Miguel’s first act as the underboss had been to trade in an unrestricted area that belonged to Don Alessandro. And that stupid action had led to the deaths of soldiers on both sides of the mafias.

Miguel knew the consequences of this action but he went ahead with it anyway and it was left to my father and I to pick up the pieces and try to atone for his sins.

All I wanted was to leave Don Alessandro’s territory and never see him again.

He was still staring at me but I could feel myself burning under his intense gaze but I couldn’t bring myself to look back at him.

I was too embarrassed to do so, the memories of our night together would come rushing in and I would lose control of myself and my brother might die in the process.

“Let’s get into it, Don Alessandro.” My father began, clearing his throat.

“I’ve been waiting for you to speak, Salvatore.” Don Alessandro finally tore his eyes away from me as he looked at my father.

“My son is at fault and this should never have happened. Naturally, if it were anyone else, I wouldn’t be here but that’s my only son.”

My father’s voice was heavy. He knew it as much as I did. We had no leverage in Don Alessandro’s territory and we were vulnerable here.

We had only been allowed to bring a few guards with us on Don Alessandro’s orders.

If he had planned to make us feel small and insignificant, it was working down to the last detail.

“I figured you were going to say that so I had a contingency plan drawn up if it comes down to this.” Don Alessandro said, stroking his chin.

“I want my son returned to me, alive. I’m willing to do anything for you to make that happen. What do you want in exchange for his life, Don Alessandro?” My father asked.

I had advised him to take this route on our way here. Don Alessandro wasn’t going to let Miguel leave without a huge f*e paid in return and we came prepared.

Don Alessandro snapped his fingers towards Maya and she reached into the briefcase placed in front of her and pulled out a couple of documents before handing them over to her father.

“Here in my hands are documents that would seal the transfer of the Alessia cartel ring to my mafia.” Don Alessandro began as he slid the document across the table towards my father. “If you want your son returned to you, you will give me what I want without any hesitation.”

The Alessia cartel ring was one of our most important cartel rings that raked in profits daily. It was one of the first cartel rings my father had established when he came to the city of Los Angeles.

For a large man, my father had dainty hands, and each finger moved like a dancer: fast, smooth, and clean. Much to my mother’s dismay, my father ran an illegal gambling business from the back of his small store in Rome. He’d been a con artist and a smuggler until he’d saved enough to relocate to America.

When he got off the boat, he went straight to the nearest restaurant and applied for a job.

A few years later, he bought the place and started running his cartel and he called it the Alessia Cartel ring after my mother who died while giving birth to Miguel.

“We have several other cartels you can pick from, Don Alessandro,” I said.

“I’m sure that they are but my father has made his decision and we want the Alessia cartel ring,” Maya answered, a smug look on her face.

“I wasn’t speaking to you, Maya. I clearly re—“ I began but I couldn’t finish my sentence as my father cut me short.

“‘Silence, Gianna!” My father said, his voice rising.

“I’m only trying to make sure that we don’t make any grave mistake, father. Alessia was named after my mother—your wife.” I said.

This wasn’t the first time Miguel had gotten into trouble and I was certain that this wasn’t going to be the last.

Miguel was to trouble as a moth was to flame, inseparable.

“I won’t lose my heir over some cartel ring, Gianna.” My father said angrily. “I have more cartels under my belt and I can always get more if I desire. But, I only have one heir—Miguel, and I will not lose him, not for anything in this world.”

I felt my heart shatter but I remained silent. It was pointless to argue with my father when he had made up his mind and I had nothing else to say. He was going to hand the Alessia Cartel ring over in exchange for Miguel.

“You’ve lived in a bubble your whole life and now, you realize just how little you mean to everyone around you. It’s only going to get worse from here and I’ll be here to watch you suffer.” Maya smiled, her eyes filled with hate as she glared at me.

I wiped my eyes quickly before turning towards my father who had a pen in his hand, ready to sign the documents to seal the transfer.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Miguel staring at our father with delight in his eyes. I recognized that look and I knew he wasn’t remorseful. If he had the same chance, he would do this all over again.

Don Alessandro followed my eyes and I quickly turned away and stared at the white wall next to me, holding my breath and waiting for my father to sign on the dotted lines so we could go home.

“I need you to hold off on signing those documents for a minute, Salvatore.” Don Alessandro said.

Everyone stared at him with confusion plastered on their faces.

“Is there a problem, Don Alessandro?” My father asked, maintaining his stoic demeanor.

“There’s one thing left for me to address before you can proceed and there’s no better time to do it than now.” Don Alessandro replied to my father but his eyes were fixed on me.

I didn’t know what he had in mind but I was dreading the outcome already.