Lahat ng Kabanata ng MAFIA RULES: Kabanata 121 - Kabanata 130

When I wake up on Sunday morning, the bed is empty beside me. I know Niko is not at church, he wouldn’t go without me and as we are keeping the pregnancy quiet, we haven’t been for months. So these days, only Tommy and Vincent attend mass every Sunday morning. Releasing a sleepy oud yawn, I stretch a hand towards the nightstand for my phone. Where the hel- I squint one eye open to narrow on its position then move my fingers further to the right grabbing my phone. I swipe through my contact with half closed eyes before hitting the call button. It rings twice before connecting. “Where are you?” There is a beat of silence “In my office, two doors from you” his voice grows increasingly sharp “Are you hurt?” I blink once, twice doing a mental check, “No, I’m fine. Just woke up and wondered where you were” Then I hung up tossed my phone on the side and went back to sleep.That afternoon I sit in the living room and stretch my hands above my body for the fifth time.Gosh, my back. I m

“One of my friends, Chloe used to work doing the school break, meeting new people, getting to know them, helping them solve problems, and the unreasonable demands of some customers she would come back every school break with the funniest stories, it was a blast” I tell Maria as she chops some vegetables “I’m not sure if I’m cut out for the fashion world though, you remember that movie we saw, what was the name...? I trailed off racking my brain. "The one with Carla Hernandez in the lead, where she ran a fashion house, now imagine that in real life, it is just too competitive you know, and the forever changing trends? Nah... I dont think it is for me. Not to mention it deals with too much publicity." I shake my head once more. Niko would never agree with something that puts me in the spotlight. It would make me an easy target. This is the next best thing, I’m already getting it all figured out. Once again I marvel at the choice I’m career. After getting my certification I am tryi

Present. I remember the day I married my husband, as he slipped his rings on my finger, the dread in my heart as that single action sealed my fate. It was not a marriage I chose, or he a man I wanted for myself. It was sad, but I accepted it with grace, like a young woman befitting the Blanco name, I became a Salvatore. I didn’t love or care for him. But I made peace with it, the women in my family are beautiful and coveted. It is our duty to marry well and support our family's standing. Still, I promised myself, that whatever the future may hold, I would be fine. In the early months of marriage, we came to an agreement, I would fulfill my duties as expected of the wife of the capo, and in exchange, he would give me what freedom I could manage in between. Now, I sit with my hands clasped in front of me. On the table, under my clasped hands is a file including a list of activities, some photographs, a few hand-drawn images, and more papers covering the personal information of Jud

My mama was here for three months following the birth of the children, Gianna, and Eva Vanessa and Anna visited every other day. Father didn’t come, it remains a critical time in Chicago, his position in jeprody, he dare not take his eyes off the ball for a second, choosing to stay back and guard his position. Sometimes, it surprises me how much I have come to understand the politics of our world as time passes. It’s mid-afternoon when I sit in the sunroom downstairs, the children, Angelo, Caela, and Sebby are playing with toys on the rug. I sit with baby Rico in my lap, though he is a month older than the twins, he is slightly smaller. On the single couch in front of me, Vanessa sits in jeans and a red top, shiny black ankle boots, and bright red lipstick, her black hair straight as a pin. She has a glass of wine in hand as he observes the children. I just joined them having rounded up my meeting with Alex it is safe to say we need more capital. So much capital to run a business.

Niko is leaning over Caela’s crib when I returned, he’s home early as it was just around six in the evening, he must have come in while I was still down in the kitchen. “Where is Tommy? He didn’t leave them alone did he?” I ask with a frown, shutting the door behind me, he clearly agreed to watch them for a bit and I don’t think I was gone long.“He just left” Finally, he turns to me, his hair now shorter, but even more sexy if I do say so myself. He just went out one day and came back with the new haircut, buzzed short at the sides and the back, longer at the top combed back.The new haircut gave him an edgier, sharper look, making his chiseled features more pronounced, I had caught between annoyance and glee, missing the longer strands already and how I used to run my fingers through his hair when we kissed. But the new cut suited him perfectly.“You cut your hair” I had told him that day, my fingers hovering over the buzzed side by his ear. Niko lowers his head slightly “Don’t li