My Mafia Madness 4

Chapter 25 - The Strange Bite

Willow gasped as a mixture of shock and disbelief flooded into her already ravaged mind from what Alexa had just told her.

She simply couldn’t believe it!

“Holy s**t!” Willow cursed aloud.

“I can’t believe the bastard did that to you! That smug son-of-a-b***h! He had no right to force you into something like that. What is this, the middle-ages or something! I’ll tell you this much, there’s no way in hell that sham of a marriage is legally binding. There’s just no way!”

“I have no idea if it is or not but according to him, he believes that it is. Turns out that form I signed to get my son back… it was a marriage contract…”

Alexa took a moment as she felt intense shame and frustration at her past actions, shaking her head as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I don’t know what I’m going to tell Dante. He’s gonna completely lose it when he finds out-”

“-Do NOT tell Dante about this!”

The suddenly masculine voice of none other than Roberto Romano spoke now as he stood a short distance away from the two women, with several towels draped over both of his muscular arms.

He looked both of them dead in the eye with a serious expression.

Both Willow and Alexa seemed shocked by his sudden arrival as their expressions showed understandable fear.

Fear of what would happen now that Dante’s own brother knew about this forced marriage as well.

“Roberto! How long were you standing there?” Alexa asked.

“Long enough to hear what I needed to.” he replied simply.

Alexa’s usually warm and vibrant brown eyes revealed obvious worry now, whereas Willow didn’t seem to be as concerned as her close friend.

Willow didn’t appear frightened that her partner now knew the terrible truth about Alexa’s forced marriage, or perhaps she couldn’t yet see the coming ramifications of such an unfortunate secret coming to light.

Who knew which it was.

As Roberto spoke again, he calmly proceeded to place both towels down onto the lounging chairs positioned beside the pool’s edge.

Ready for the two women when they chose to exit the pool.

“As for this small issue we now have… Alexa, you’re not gonna say anything about this to Dante until you get the go ahead from me. Got it?”

The second Romano brother had suddenly morphed into Mafioso mode now, taking charge of their vulnerable situation and keeping everyone calm and in control of what needed to be done from here on out.

As if he had done this many times before.

And in truth, he had.

His expression even radiated powerful authority as he looked between them whilst he continued speaking.

“Same with you, cutie. Neither of you will mention this to anyone else until you hear otherwise from me. As for my brother, leave him to me. I’ll have a word with him and explain everything. It’s probably safer for everyone involved if we’re alone when I do break the news to him. Who knows how he might react.”

Willow pulled herself out of the pool and began drying off with the towel Roberto had brought her.

Alexa in the meantime remained in the warm water, apparently unable to find the strength both physically and mentally to pull herself out.

And ironically, she felt the exact same way about this newest problem she now faced.

The sudden darkness of someone’s shadow looming over her pulled her out of her darkened mind as she glanced upwards and found Roberto there holding out his hand for her.

“Come on you… we’ll get through this, don’t worry.” he tried to assure her with a warm-hearted smile.

Sighing in obvious anxiety and defeat, Alexa hesitantly reached out her hand to grasp his.

Hoisted up out of the water, she made her way over towards where the towel had been draped over the back of the lounging chair and began to dry herself off in silence.

No amount of reassurance could rid her of the immense blanket of guilt and dread Alexa was now feeling due to this forced marriage.

There was no doubt in her mind that Dante would take the news of it well.

He would more than likely explode in a dangerous fit of rage after hearing that the woman he loved had already been forced into a legally binding marriage with his mortal enemy, Vincenzo.

But what Alexa feared most of all was how he would react to her not telling him about it.

Betrayal was a massive thing to Dante. And in a way, she hadn’t been honest with him about what had happened. She hadn’t come to him and asked for his help.

“What if he leaves me?”

Alexa’s voice sounded timid, her spirit crushed as tears began to cascade down over either of her reddened cheeks and her lips trembled uncontrollably.

Turning to face Roberto, she was about to lose all control of her emotions.

“Roberto… what if-”

“-Shhh…”

The towering giant of a man hushed her calmly as he came to stand with her, wrapping Alexa into his warm and muscular arms for added comfort and support as her walls crumbled and she began to cry.

And as she did, Alexa nuzzled into his chest while Roberto pulled her in close, his arms holding her in place firmly and his chin resting on top of her head as he looked over at Willow with a solemn appearance.

Willow too came over to embrace her distraught friend, wrapping her arms around both of them and giving her friend a warm squeeze for support.

“Dante loves you more than anything, girl… that man would literally kill for you, remember?”

Willow began her unexpected speech of reassurance by reminding Alexa of the most vital piece of information that there was for her right now.

“You’re probably feeling like complete and utter s**t right now and honestly, that’s totally understandable. I’d probably be feeling the exact same way if I were in your shoes.”

She began her insightful words of wisdom while continuing their group hug.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Alexa spoke between sniffs, causing Willow and Roberto to chuckle for a moment before Willow went on.

“Hey, I know you can’t see it right now but everything’s gonna be alright, Lex. Really, it is! If anything, what happened with Vincenzo might actually give Dante more of a reason to want to hunt down that cowardly piece of s**t and put an end to him once and for all.”

“Yeah, I’d pretty much count on that.”

Roberto added his piece, nodding his head.

“My brother’s gonna want to tear out Vincenzo’s throat with his bare hands, Kahl Drogo style. Man, I’d seriously love to be there when it happens. It’ll be beyond f*****g brutal!”

As soon as the middle Romano brother had finished boasting, both Willow and Alexa pulled away from the group hug and looked up at him with matching baffled expressions on their dampened faces.

To Roberto, it looked as if they had no idea of what he was talking about when he’d mentioned the famous fictional character Kahl Drogo only moments earlier.

And deciding to try and explain it for them, he went on in a little more detail.

“You know, Kahl Drogo from the TV series Game of Thrones?” he prompted them eagerly.

Both women looked at one another for a moment before returning their gazes to him, still holding frowns on their faces.

“Yeah, what about it?” Willow enquired hesitantly.

In truth, both Alexa and Willow were indeed big fans of the popular fantasy show but the idea of someone ripping out another person’s windpipe was a little extreme for them.

Even if that person did deserve it like Vincenzo Moroni did.

Clearly excited about the graphic gruesomeness of this particular scene, Roberto went on.

“You remember… it’s this part where he uses his fingers to literally reach into this guy’s throat and pull out his f*****g windpipe.”

Both women continued staring at him in complete and utter shock.

They were confused as to why he would find something this brutal exciting.

“Yeah, it’s gory as hell! Blood spurts out all over the place, and as it happens, the poor fucker getting his throat torn out just stands there with this confused look on his face.”

Pausing, Roberto came to realise that both women weren’t as excited about this as he had thought they might be.

His face fell with embarrassment as he worked on changing the subject.

“Anyway, my point was that Vincenzo’s gonna get what’s coming to him, Alexa. You can count on that!”

Roberto then finished with a firm nod and a smile as he looked into her eyes.

“My brother doesn’t f**k around. You cross him and you’re pretty much a walking corpse. It’s quite literally that simple.”

A sudden chill ran down the base of Alexa’s spine as she heard Roberto’s words about Dante. About the real Mafia Boss and crime syndicate leader, The Reaper of New York City.

The dark and highly brutal persona that Dante kept well hidden from Alexa, for fear of frightening her away if she ever saw his terrifying side.

“Anyway…”

Willow quickly decided to change the rather morbid subject that had arisen during their apparent reassuring talk with Alexa. And wisely so.

Reaching down and picking up the baby monitor, Willow handed it to Alexa as she continued talking with a newly upbeat tone to her voice.

“How about we go and get showered off, then order something from the kitchen for dinner? It’s around about that time. I’m sure that the kitchen will be all fired up and ready to take our orders by now.”

“Yeah, actually that sounds really good.” Alexa agreed with a smile.

“I’m seriously starving hungry after that swim. I feel like I haven’t eaten anything in days.”

“Oooh, food. My favourite thing… other than s*x of course.” Roberto mused playfully as he too gathered up his things to leave the pool area with the others.

Both friends began laughing wholeheartedly at his jestful comments.

“Yep… eat, f**k, sleep, f**k, repeat… that’s pretty much my motto in life.” Roberto added proudly, making light of their current topic; him.

Willow shrugged as she turned to look at Alexa.

“Funnily enough, that is pretty much spot on when it comes to Roberto.”

Willow joked with a giggle.

“What can I say, my man knows what he likes.”

“Damn right!”

Roberto chimed in with a wink and a smirk.

“And what are we in the mood for this evening? I don’t know about you two sexy ladies, but I’ve got a sudden craving for pasta.”

“Mmmm… that sounds incredibly delicious, Roberto.”

Alexa agreed with him rather eagerly as she wrapped her fluffy towel around her midsection before tucking it in at the top.

“Maybe spaghetti or lasagne?”

“Yeah, or maybe they could make me my favourite… chicken carbonara.” Willow suggested happily as the trio began to make their way out of the pool room, headed upstairs to shower and change.

-

The trip back to his family’s manor felt like it was taking forever for poor Dante as he sat there, directly opposite his second-in-command.

It appeared that Nicola was giving his Don a look.

One showing the underboss’ apparent disappointment in the plan to bring Alexa and Alessandro along to meet Don Levine at his castle tomorrow morning.

Dante could practically sense the hidden argument behind Nicola’s expression and after a moment of awkward silence, he slumped his shoulders forward and let out a hard sigh of momentary defeat.

“What is it?”

Nicola lowered his eyes as he kept his mouth shut, refusing to say anything in response to his capo’s question.

Tilting his head off to the side, Dante continued prompting his loyal friend to open up.

“Come on, I can see something’s on your mind Nicola.” he announced whilst adjusting himself in his seat.

“Enlighten me, please.”

Hesitating at first, Nicola too let out a long sigh before he began to express his concerns.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea. That’s all.”

Lifting his left brow at the differed opinion to his own, Dante wanted to know more.

“And why is that?”

“I know that Don Levine came across as totally forthcoming and appeared completely trustworthy during our visit just now. But a move like this… it just isn’t like you, Dante.”

Nicola pleaded his case with a pained expression.

“You never in your life make a rash choice like this. And I should know. Of everyone under your employ I know you better than anyone! You’re one of the most vigilantly cautious people I’ve ever met, and for good reason. It’s what’s kept you alive for all these years.”

Nicola took a moment to pause, leaning his head back against the interior of the limo as he continued to voice his concerns.

“Not to mention that you don’t even know this guy. Are you really willing to bring the most important people in your life to meet with someone who could just as well have them both killed if given the chance?”

Dante sat forward now, leaning both his elbows down over his knees.

“Are you suggesting that I lock my family away in an impenetrable box somewhere, Nicola?” Dante taunted with a smirk.

But it was clear that Nicola wasn’t joking around right now. His expression showed it clear as day.

“I’m deadly serious about this, Dante. And you should be too.” the underboss reminded.

“What would you suggest I do instead?” the Don enquired, giving his friend a chance to offer a possible solution to their problem.

Racking his brain, Nicola tried to come up with something on the spot as he chewed on the inside of his cheek and squinted his eyes deep in thought.

There had to be something, a way to ensure that both Alexa and Alessandro could be kept safe during their impending visit tomorrow.

As Nicola continued going over various suggestions in his mind, he noticed that Dante was scratching at his right hand.

It appeared that the Don was focusing on the space between his thumb and pointer finger, which appeared to have welted from being aggravated by something.

Gesturing with a nod of his head towards the Don’s hand, Nicola spoke to Dante.

“What’s up with your hand?”

Dante looked up at Nicola in question before glancing down at his hand to inspect it as he replied.

“It’s just itchy. Must have been bitten by something while we were outside at Levine's place.” the Reaper reported calmly.

Moving across to sit down beside Dante, Nicola took his Don’s hand and began inspecting it himself.

It appeared to look like some sort of mosquito bite, with a red area surrounding a raised bump which had formed right in the centre.

Honestly, it didn’t look too bad.

Perhaps uncomfortable if anything else.

“Seriously, it’s nothing. It’s the least of my worries right now.” Dante assured him, pulling his hand out of Nicola’s and sitting back more.

“You know I’m just looking out for you and your family, capo.” Nicola pointed out, his tone of voice coming across as a lot calmer and genuine now as he looked to the man sitting beside him.

“Like you, I would hate for something to happen to either of them. Besides, it’s my job to ensure the safety of my Don and his immediate family. And as you know, I take my job very seriously.”

Dante chuckled for a moment.

“That you do.” he agreed whole-heartedly.

Turning to face Nicola now, Dante spoke his next words directly from the heart now. A rare side of such a powerful man. One that was hardly ever shared with anyone else besides Alexa.

“I’m very lucky to have you on my side, Nicola. I may never say it, but I appreciate everything that you do for the Romano Family… and for me.”

Smiling, Nicola gave a nod in response before he reached out and gave Dante a playful pat on his shoulder. One showing his deepened fondness for his capo and close friend.

“I’ll always be on your side, Dante.” he proclaimed.

“No matter what comes at us, I’ve always got your back.”