The Contract

Chapter 04

Henry

Three years ago

“You will have to take over the family empire,” my father said.

“I can't. I'm only 15 years old,” I protested. We were at the Mafia Headquarters.

“You have to start now.” He took a deep breath. “This is your tutor.”

A bald, thin, and very tall man stepped forward.

“He will teach you everything you need to continue honoring our family's name.”

My father was always harsh. He never showed me any love. My mother passed away when I was twelve from a liver tumor, and by the time it was discovered, it was already too late.

Fortunately, I had Sandra. She was always my nanny, and when I moved to NY, she came along. She always took care of me.

My family was part of the Italian mafia.

I never wanted to be the Capo, but it was a family tradition. I forced myself to accept it. Over time, I trained my younger brother. He now handles the mafia for me and keeps me informed about everything going on.

“Look, Henry, I'll take care of everything for you, but with one condition,” Hendrick, my younger brother, said.

“What is it, Hendrick?”

“You will have to take over all of this when I get married.” He pointed to the room in the building we were standing in.

“Until then, I'll have to train someone else.”

“Why didn't you ever tell Dad about this?”

“You know how it is. When it's generational, you just accept it.”

My past was a bit dark. I didn’t kill anyone; I just gave the orders. Everything had to be the way I wanted and at the time I wanted. Especially the women in my life—I had whoever I wanted, whenever I wanted. If they were married, my henchmen always found a way. They would buy off their husbands with money or make them sign a contract stating that if anyone found out about the arrangement, they would be expelled from their country of origin or their families would be annihilated.

Of course, this always worked.

My tutor had a son who was older than me, and we trained together. I called him “uncle,” which drove him crazy at first, but over time, he accepted it. Eric always loved the mafia life and liked to travel. He worked at a law firm in NY as the right-hand man to the owner. On one of his trips, he was killed. I’m sure it was the German mafia trying to send us a message.

I decided to return to NY to live a “normal” life. Only then would I find out what really happened to Eric.

As soon as I arrived in NY, I received a letter. It said the plane the Andrade family was on had exploded in the air. I was skeptical of the story. They died, and shortly after, Eric too.

Could they have had something to do with the German mafia? Eric never went into detail about the Navarro family, but I was determined to find out what was going on.

“It’s good to have you back, kid,” Sandra said, waiting for me at the door of the mansion where I lived in NY.

“I missed you too, Sandra!” I said, hugging her.

“Are you going to stay here for a long time?”

“I don’t know.” I sighed deeply. “I just want to know what happened to Eric.”

“I still can’t believe it, my boy.” Sandra accompanied me to the office. “Do you think it was the Germans?”

“I don’t know, Sandra. I don’t know.” First of all, I had to find out what Eric was involved in.

“A letter arrived for Eric,” she said, raising an eyebrow, looking slightly wary.

“This one.” She handed me the letter.

“Strange.” The envelope had no sender.

I quickly opened the envelope and found two papers inside.

As soon as I started reading, the first one caught my attention.

“Yes, Eric. If this letter reached you, it’s because we left earlier than expected. Fate was cruel to us. We didn’t have the opportunity to see our little girl become a woman. But as life and business were not generous to us, I hope you continue with our contract. Take care of my daughter. If you can’t, I hope this McNight is as good as you.”

"What the heck is this?"

"What happened, kid?"

I didn’t respond. I just opened the other paper in the envelope.

“The contract stated that if something happened to the Andrade family, Eric would have to marry their daughter. They could only divorce once she finished college or turned 25. If something happened to him, he would have to designate someone he trusted. Otherwise, his secret would be leaked to the entire company.”

Was it about the mafia? What was Eric involved in? Was the Andrade family in the middle of all this?

The letter said the trusted person would be me. I couldn’t believe Eric had gotten me into this mess.

I couldn’t take the risk. I didn’t know what Eric’s secret was, and I couldn’t let the mafia be in danger.

"Sandra?"

"Yes, kid?"

"Do you know the Andrade family?"

"Mr. Andrade used to come here sometimes. He and Eric got along really well!"

That threatening letter didn’t make sense if they were friends.

"Do you know if they have children?"

"I always heard Mr. Navarro saying that Mr. Eric should marry his daughter."

"Okay.

"Are you going to have dinner?"

"No, I’m going to my room. I have several things to resolve." I kissed Sandra on the forehead and went upstairs.

My room was tidy, as always. I had let Sandra know a day before my arrival. Sometimes I stayed in another house, but I preferred being with her. She was the only one who truly knew my tastes and treated me like a son.

Call On

Me: Hello, Guilherme?

Gui: Henry, to what do I owe the honor?

Me: I’m getting married.

Gui: What do you mean? Did you find the love of your life?

Me: No, it’s just business.

Gui: Go on.

Me: Something happened to Eric. I still don’t know exactly what. — I took a deep breath.

Gui: And? — Guilherme encouraged me to continue.

Me: I’m going to marry Miss Andrade.

Gui: What’s your point?

Me: I don’t want any publicity or anything like that. In fact, I don’t even want to see her. I just want us both to sign the marriage certificate.

Gui: Are you sure?

Me: Yes. When the seven years are up, I’ll get a divorce.

Gui: Okay, I’ll talk to Bruno.

Me: Who is he?

Gui: The lawyer of the...

Me: I don’t want to know her name. — I interrupted him. — So you already know about this story?

Gui: Yeah, Mr. Eric had already told me. I could only talk about it if someone brought it up. That meant he died or something like that.

Me: Why didn’t you tell me anything?

Gui: You know I’m loyal to my clients.

Me: Alright. — I couldn’t be mad. I always liked Guilherme’s work because of his discretion. — Let me know as soon as she signs the document.

Gui: Of course, Henry.

Hang Up

The days went by. Guilherme handled all the wedding arrangements. I only received an envelope with the certificate signed by her. It also had a photo of her, but I didn’t want to see it. She was just a little girl, and I only wanted to know who had done this to Eric.

I arranged for her to live with Sandra. It would be good for her to have company, and Sandra was the best.

I returned to Italy, and whenever I came back to NY, I stayed at another mansion I owned. Sometimes I would go out for coffee with Sandra, who kept me updated on the situation. In those three years, the girl hadn’t caused me any trouble. She was a homebody and did very well in college. I always received her grades. Like me, she never brought up the subject of meeting me.

Even after those three years, I still didn’t know exactly what had happened to Eric. I had leads, but nothing concrete.

Present Times

I had just arrived in NY.

Bruno, my wife’s lawyer, was waiting for me.

“What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until I got some rest?” I asked, irritated, having arrived only ten minutes ago.

“Sorry, Mr. McNight,” Bruno said awkwardly. “But Mrs. McNight wants a divorce.”

“What do you mean? Is she crazy?” I started shouting. “There are still four years left for this crap to end!”