All Chapters of Under Mafia Protection: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

JimenaI sat at a table near the pool, braiding Naty’s hair. She was about to take her first horseback riding class, something she had been eager to try after hearing about Melody’s stories.Her request had come out of the blue, and I was against it at first. Of course, Alessio was on her side and managed to persuade me to let her go. He promised Melody had the best instructors, and Naty would be in safe hands.Truthfully, Naty deserved it—there was no question about it. She adjusted well in school and had quickly become one of the best in her class. Her teachers often praised her for her artistic talents and said she was a fast learner.Letting her go on a horse was the least I could do. As always, Alessio was busy with work but by now I was used to it.“Mommy?” Naty called for my attention, her tone sounding serious.“Yes, baby?” I replied, wondering what she could be asking me about."You like spending time with Alessio, but you never liked spending time with Daddy," she concluded.

Alessio“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you—at least for the first two?” I asked Uncle Stefano, watching him as he prepared for the day. He was planning go check out the new, still empty Fanucci warehouses. Originally, I was supposed to join him—but plans had changed.Melody and Naty had their art exhibition at school, something they had been talking about for a while. Naty and Mena asked me to be there, and I couldn’t let them down. Plus, it would take some burden off mom as well."I need you to be serious today, Gian. Be useful," I told my brother, who would be joining him instead. This was not like the usual small runs he was used to. Making sure the warehouses were in good state was important to our business.Gian scrunched his nose, looking at Uncle, “Is he my dad or brother?”I dismissed his words with a scoff. There was only a year between him and Dante, and then another year between me and him. Despite our close ages, I had always felt a sense of responsibility to

MenaAfter the art exhibition ended, Alessio suggested to buy the children some ice cream. Well, Melody forced him—and he agreed.Naty and Melody were over at the playground, eating their ice cream, while Alessio and I watched them from a bench nearby.Same as Naty, I was surprised that he had shown up. When it came to Naty, I was used to doing everything on my own, without any support and without expectations, because Anson had shown us not to have them.Naty really wanted him to come, and I initially wanted to tell her not to ask him, as I was scared of rejection, but also she might've felt like she had nothing to lose.Thank God he came, because the parents there were not my crowd. It also brought back a reminder of how different we were from each other—but until now, we had made it work.“We left at a good time,” Alessio broke the peaceful silence. “I couldn’t stand being around those children any longer.”I chuckled at his words. During the exhibition, the children all tried to g

Alessio"Just look around the place real quick, we have two more to go," I instructed, turning to the guys."Levi and Donni, you're with me. You two take the other side.”We walked inside, and the first thing I noticed were the flickering, dimmed lights. The warehouse had a smell of a musty scent, and the only noise was the sound of dripping water, probably from a leak.“Where were you guys yesterday?” I attempted to lead a conversation, trying to remain as casual as I could as we looked through the warehouse."I took a jet, flew this hot babe to a hotel," Donni boasted proudly. "At the beginning of the day, her mouth worked like a damn machine, at the end of the day—she couldn’t talk anymore."“Good for you,” I said, expecting nothing less from Donni. Women and work, that’s what his life was—and what my life used to be.From the corner of my eye, I caught Levi bending down to grab something from the floor. As he was about to put it in his jacket, I grabbed his arm to stop him. “What

AlessioIt had been three days. Three days since everything went to hell, since we found Gian in that cold storage, and since Uncle…I took a deep breath, burying my head between my hands as I sat in the hospital waiting area. I couldn’t stand being in Gian’s room anymore, especially not when he was the quietest I had ever seen him in my life.I couldn’t blame him, and I hadn’t expected anything else from someone who had just lost a limb.In the past, I would wish for him to turn it down a notch, but this was not what I meant. My fingers were wrapped tightly around the watch in my hand. The final thing I was able to retrieve from Uncle.Everything that had happened felt like a cruel joke. It wasn’t just Uncle’s life that was taken, but in a way, Gian’s too. He was a fighter, always had been. The doctors had been optimistic at first, saying that if he were to pull through, there would be no guarantee that he could ever walk again, let alone function properly.He had several cardiac arr