The Way he loves

Chapter 1

Angelina

“Is the situation over there really that bad?", I asked mom, worried at the panic in her voice.

I had just finished my classes for the day and had finally checked my phone. Seven missed calls from mom! I had kept my phone on silent mode during class hours and hadn't realised that she was trying to reach me. I had called her back as soon I had reached my dorm room.

“Yes Lina. The Boss is furious at Lucas, he's threatening to take away our house and everything else that we own. Your dad really messed up this time, we will be paying off the debts for our whole lives and even then we might not be able to fully pay it back."

My dad, Lucas Vitale was the right hand man and the most trusted advisor to Vincenzo Romano, one of the most ruthless mafia lords of New York. I had always been scared of Romano, or the “Boss" as everyone called him. He was cold and ruthless, I don't think I had ever seen him laugh or even smile. My dad wasn't much better, but he at least looked a bit more relaxed and non threatening. For as long as I could remember, Dad had been one of the very few men whom the boss fully trusted and maybe even respected. My dad had always been loyal to his work, which amused me for two reasons. The first reason being that he had loyalty and sense of honour and duty towards a job that literally involved criminal activities including drugs, gambling and prostitution. The second reason was that his sense of loyalty was towards his “brothers" and “family" he worked for, but not towards his own wife or daughter.

“I can't believe dad commited such a huge blunder", I said with a sigh.

Dad had become too lax, he had trusted the wrong people and hadn't even realised that the there were spies among the people who worked under him. Spies sent by the Moretti family, our sworn enemies. I didn't exactly know the details, but they had apparantly leaked confidential information about our drug trade and warehouses and resulted in the Boss losing millions of dollars.

These men had been hired by dad and directly reported to him, which made him responsible for this mishap.

“I don't know what's going to happen Lina. I'm scared, really scared, about you", mom whispered over the phone.

“Scared for me? But why? I'm innocent in all of this!", I said indignantly.

“I know that dear. But your dad's position is in trouble. He'll do anything to secure his power. Even if that means marrying his only legitimate daughter off to a rich criminal"

I froze after hearing mom's words. I hadn't thought of this at all, but now that mom mentioned it, it was a very real possibility. Marriages were business deals in our world, often used to increase power and position of the families involved.

“Mom I don't want to be forcibly married off to some criminal. I have things to do in my life and I'm just nineteen!", I shrieked, my anxiety making it slightly hard for me to breathe.

Since my childhood, I had wanted to escape this life. I had dreaded ending up like my mother, trapped in a loveless marriage, forced to watch your husband shower his affections to his mistress while ignoring you. Even the house I grew up in had felt like a cage, even though I had a lot more freedom than most girls in our circles. But watching mom's utter unhappiness and dad's indifference towards us broke my heart every single day. This is why I had fought to move out of the house and to stay in a dorm room after starting college, in spite of living in the same city. Dad had initially expressed concerns about my safety but I had convinced him that our home wasn't much safer either. Also, I don't think he honestly cared. He would have probably been happier if I had taken mom with me too. Then he would have finally had the house to himself and the people he truly considered his family.

“Honey, I will try everything I can to protect you, I swear. But I want you to brace yourself for this possibility. We always knew that you would probably have an arranged marriage, just like most women in our circles.”, mom's voice shook as if she was holding back tears.

My mom had always prayed that my life should be better than hers. But deep down, we had both known that the possibility of that happening was quite low. It however didn't stop my foolish teenage heart from imagining and daydreaming about marrying a man who would truly love me and be loyal to me. And now those dreams were on the verge of shattering.

“Mom, it's okay. It's going to be fine. We have each other, right? We don't need anything else or anyone else", I said shoving aside my own fears because I could sense that mom was on the verge of having a breakdown. I often worried about her, she was clearly depressed, clinically depressed, yet she refused to talk to anyone. I had tried to broach the topic several times. The only response I had gotten was, “What will I talk about with a therapist? I cannot explain that my husband is part of a criminal syndicate where it is considered perfectly normal to have mistresses and a husband's duty is restricted to providing for his wife monetarily"

She was not wrong. And that is why I hadn't pushed her too much.

“Just come home Lina. I don't know what will happen, but I do know that people will expect you to be here", mom sighed.

I used to wish that she were stronger, that she wouldn't give up so easily. But then I realised over time that we were, actually, quite helpless. We depended completely on dad, mom wasn't allowed to have a job, none of our women were allowed that privilege. That is why I considered myself one of the luckier ones, dad had at least humoured me and allowed me to go to college. Although, he had made it quite clear that I would have to come back if and when duty called. And it looked like that was going to happen very soon.

“Fine, mom. I am coming home". I had mentally accepted defeat already. I wish I were a fighter, but years of conditioning had killed away all my fight and determination. “Learned helplessness" is what they had called it in my psychology class. But unfortunately, knowing about it, did not stop the experience. And of course, I was not allowed to go to therapy. I was not suicidal, but I had grown wary of life. I had resigned myself to a hopeless, loveless bleak life, taking solace in the fact that one day, death will definitely put an end to my misery and I would welcome it with open arms.