REVENGE OF THE MAFIA HEIRESS

Chapter Three

Marie's POV

In about an hour, I arrived at my house and shifted about excitedly as the gates to my house opened; the intricate designs and artistry of the gate still left me as stunned as it had years ago.

The driver drove up to the entrance of the house where the steps led up to the door, at the door stood an old man with a towering height, the man smiled deeply as he saw the car pull up to where he stood and gently walked down, immediately the car stopped I jumped out from it and ran towards my father hugging him as tightly as possible.

"Hey now, I am an old man, Marie," My father said back as he embraced me; we stood there locked in each other's hands for a little more than a moment.

"I missed you so much, Daddy," I said to him whilst I wiped the tears from my face. He chuckled as he held me; his voice sounded deep and reassuring, making me feel even more at peace.

He held me at arm's length, then turned me around in a circle, "You've grown so much," because holding my arms tightly. "You look just like your mother," he added, looking a bit nostalgic; I sniffed before hitting him in the chest.

"Of course, I'm a fully grown woman," I said back at him, he laughed then gestured me inside. "I don't see Dante around, where is he?" I asked looking around for my younger brother.

"Ooh him, he's around; you'll see him soon enough," my father responded; we walked into the house, and looking around. I saw that the house remained just as it had been, not a single change; I smiled to myself happily.

"Good afternoon sis," I heard a voice behind me saying. I turned around in a blur hoping to see Dante, but rather I saw a man just as tall as my father. It was Dante but at the same time it wasn't him. It wasn't my little brother anymore.

"Dante?" I asked just to be sure.

"Yeah, sis, it's been a while," he said, coming to hug me. I still stood frozen in surprise; nothing had prepared me for this; it was like he had eaten some growth hormones or something because this was way too much.

Still, I hugged him with every ounce of strength I had; he hugged me back but not with as much passion; he has always been like that, nonchalant and unbothered. That's why I had always tried my best to reach out to him no matter what.

"What have you been eating?" I said in a laughing tone. He blushed a bit before looking away, but I continued, knowing that he wasn't good with compliments.

"You've gotten so big and tall, you even have a beard," I said touching the hair on his chin that seemed to have started coming out not too long ago. He pushed past me trying to avoid the embarrassment.

"I got something for you," he said, pulling out a box from his pocket; I looked at him a bit surprised; he was never the type to buy gifts for people no matter what and yet here he was offering me a gift.

"Thank you so much Dante," I said gratefully as I took the gift from him, it was a small black box, feeling excited I opened the lid and saw a delicate neck chain embedded with emerald, it was absolutely stunning. I looked at it for longer than necessary before he took it from me and told me to try it on.

I lifted my hair and turned around, the jewelry was just perfect. It blended properly with my skin tone and almost had the same color as my eyes. I turned back at him and hugged him once more, he patted my head in response.

"Take your hands of my head," I slapped them away playfully. "It's beautiful Dante, thank you so much." I said to him.

"Don't sweat it, you deserve at least this much," he replied before turning around and leaving. I watched him go knowing that I would go disturb him in his room later in the day or maybe at night.

I turned back to my father who had been watching the both of us from the beginning smiled at me. "It really matches your eyes," he said to me, then he began walking to the stairs up to his room "Come Marie, let's have a discussion upstairs," he said.

I tensed up a bit seeing as he just immediately became serious all of a sudden. His steps weren't smooth as though he limped. His forehead was covered in beads of sweat. He wasn't okay so I followed after him.

As we got into the room, he sat on the bed comfortably and seemed to relax, as if it was painful enough for him to walk.

"Dad, are you okay?" I asked looking bothered. He saw the expression on my face and smiled at me "It's nothing Marie, I just have Arthritis in my legs, which makes it difficulty to walk around." he said.

I went over to the bed and took off his footwear, then I noticed that the joints were swollen and inflated. I touched them a bit and saw my father's face twitch in pain. I looked around the room and found some oil, then began rubbing it over his legs.

"You just came back, Marie, you don't have to; I'll be fine after I take some drugs," my father said to me, but it fell on deaf ears; he gave up after trying to convince me.

I slowly began massaging the oil into his feet, I stroked it gently, careful not to hurt him, he was already in enough pain as it was, after a few minutes had passed he seemed more composed and more at ease.

"So what do you want to talk about?" I asked him after washing my hands in the bathroom. He sat up and looked at me with a different expression on his face, he looked sad.

"Come, Marie, what do you still think about the family?" He asked expectantly; I knew what he was getting at, but there was no harm in answering the question.

"Well, I still feel that the family could be better. I feel we don't have to get things through maiming, killing or oppressing others for it. I believe that there is more than one way to settle things amicably without the use of violence. We don't have to be like the other Mafia families, we could be different and unique, special," I said pouring out my heart to my father.

"Do you think a Mafia family can stay on top without the use of violence and bloodshed? We are the Mafia; we force fear into the hearts of those who disrespect us, and we show no mercy to those who abuse us. Do you think there could be another way?" He asked me.

I nodded. "I truly believe it father, I trust we can still be the Mafia without resorting to violence, we could help others, the needy and those that seek our help, we mustn't necessarily be greedy and always wanting to take from anyone just because they don't accept us," I said.

My father sighed in distress and covered his face; he took in deep breaths and looked at me. "You know You're the firstborn child; Dante isn't of age yet, and he doesn't seek to be interested in taking over the family, so that just leaves you, he said and then continued.

"Do you want to take over the family with this kind of mentality?" He asked me.

"What's wrong with my mentality?" I asked feeling a bit slighted.

"Marie, you aren't supposed to be in this world of Mafia and violence; you're caught a kind-hearted soul, caring and loving, affectionate; I feel bothered about having to push this responsibility on you," he said to me.

I smiled at him, understanding what he meant, "I won't be alone, Father, and besides, you're not going anywhere right now; Dante is going to be there if I need advice or help or matters like this; we are together, we are a family." I said.

My father looked at me with hesitation; there was something in his eyes that he didn't want to admit. I watched him closer, and for a brief moment, he looked scared. Maybe I was just imagining it, but he didn't look happy or relieved.

"You're right, we aren't going anywhere anytime soon." he smiled at me, hiding the concerned expression he had earlier on his face; he held my hands tightly and kissed them. I smiled back at him, seeing as he felt relieved, and then I decided to ask him the question that had been on my mind for quite some time.

"Father, at the airport the driver said you had a guest that was coming and you needed to take care of him."

A troubled expression quickly covered his face; he looked beyond bothered as though the person who was coming had enough trouble to break the family apart; it made me concerned that someone could make my father feel so troubled.

"It's a member of the branch house of the Lucchese family, he wants to come pay me a visit but as for the visit I am not sure" he said to me.

I paused for a bit, trying to understand what he just said; a person from the Lucchese family was coming here. For what? Why? The great families were known in their lands and didn't try to cross over to each other's territory, so if one of them was coming here, then it meant nothing but trouble.

"Father, are you sure you have no idea about why he's coming here?" I asked, my father gently shook his head.

"I don't have a clue as to why he would want to come here but I was on good terms with his parents so maybe he doesn't have any bad intentions towards us," my father said hopefully.

I nodded my head, hoping he was right. I couldn't imagine the problems that would occur if a great family took an interest in them, but thankfully, Father was on good terms with them, so it was a good thing, right?

A knock came on the door distracting both me and my father from our discussions.

"The guest is here, Boss," A voice called out from the door, no doubt one of the men who worked under my father; his face immediately grew tense as though he hadn't been expecting the guest so soon.

He got up and put on his shoes. "My legs feel much better Marie, thank you," he said. I smiled at him then opened the door. "Come, let's go see who the hell is making you so tense."

We walked downstairs in a hurry, standing at the entrance of the door stood a man standing even taller than my father, his build was immaculate and masculine, with thick locks of black hair falling across his face, and his jawline was impeccable as if chiselled by the gods themselves and his eyes, they were so blue, so deep, they had the insurmountable depth to them and those same eyes were looking at me.

I forced myself out of the trance and looked at my father, I stood back while my father stepped forward and shook hands with him.

"Roberto, it's been too long, I've missed you," the man said back; his voice was a deep baritone and pleasing to the ears; he held a blue document in hand before he turned to look at me and then winked.

"Good e...evening," I said, my voice caught in my throat; I gazed at the beauty of this man, unwilling to look away.