A Mafia Daughter 1

Part 7

"We need yeast." The housekeeper said to Viviana who sat on the computer in the dining room. Viviana was eagerly emailing her friend Debbie, who had confirmed she would be in town at the end of the month.

If there was one thing her friends always teased her about, it was her resistance to technology. While everyone had a twitter, f*******: and instagam, Viviana had nothing other than a very limited Linkd in page. It was the struggle she could not tell them about- Viviana was not allowed to have any social network accounts. Viviana was also not afforded the privacy other girls had.

She knew that every email she sent was read, so she only ever emailed short and sweet responses. It was the same in everything- they didn't listen to all your calls, but they checked your phone records. If you sent a text to someone outside of la famiglia, you could be sure it would be read. Anytime you changed your number, you had to report it but you should also be certain that they had your new number before you did. If you sent a letter from any post office in the circuit, they were going to read it. In general, when something was supposed to be a secret, Viviana would drive into the city and drop the letters off directly in the post. Whenever someone teased her for writing a letter instead of emailing, she just laughed and said she was old fashioned. How to explain that a written letter was just… safer?

Viviana responded kindheartedly to her friend that she was happy to see her and would love to show her around town.

"Ms. Viviana, the yeast for the bread." The housekeeper repeated.

"Yes, I'll go buy it shortly, I'm just finishing up." Viviana said, shaking her head. She wondered if she could convince her father to let her go out of the circuit without an escort- after all, it would be hard to explain to Debbie.

Viviana stood and walked over to a nearby mirror in the hall. She quickly inspected herself to make sure her hair was in place before grabbing her keys. As she placed her sunglasses over her eyes, she reached for the door, almost bumping into the person who stood just outside.

Viviana stared at Matteo, who had his hand raised as if he would knock. For a moment she just stared as he smirked and proceeded to knock playfully on her head. She brought up her hand, brushing a strand of hair away and tilted her head.

"Hello Matteo." She said coldly, without removing her sunglasses.

"Hello Vivi. How are you today?" He asked, standing so close that Viviana could not close the door behind her.

"Good. And how are you?" She asked, hoping he would get the hint that she was on her way out.

"Better. Going out?" He asked. She was glad she wore her sunglasses as she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, actually. I would invite you in but I have to get some things for our housekeeper." Viviana said, finally managing to step completely out of the house and close the door behind her.

"Are you going downtown? I could give you a lift?" He asked but Viviana shook her head.

"Thank you but no, i'm just heading down to Moni's shop two blocks down." She said, making her way down the path that led towards the gate.

"Then I'll walk with you." He said happily as she led the way. Viviana picked up her pace, there was nothing she could do to avoid him coming along, but she wouldn’t draw it out longer than necessary.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, stopping at a few shops as they grew nearer to the grocer. Thanks to her sunglasses, Viviana was able to observe Matteo as he spoke to others. He was extremely confident but it occurred to her that he was also very attentive. He listed to every word anyone had to say to them and actively engaged in conversations, a trait that not many men had.  He wasn’t just there, he was actually present.

"Moni..." Viviana said happily as she entered the shop and passed her list to the older woman behind the counter. “How are you?”

"Viviana Aliotti- it's been a while." She said, taking the list and going around the counter to greet her. Viviana had known Moni all her life, and Moni had been great friends with her mother before she was married.

"The shop doesn't change. " Viviana said, finally feeling happy about one of her childhood memories. The bell for the door rung quietly as Matteo entered the store.

Viviana knew he was tall, but in this small shop, he seemed like a giant. She had hoped maybe he would wait outside but she had no such luck.

She watched as he greeted Moni graciously. It was strange that in front of people he could have such decorum... except when it came to her. Moni was excited, Matteo kept track of everyone but was usually too busy to come in for visits. It sounded like he was always working. For a moment, Viviana was certain she was forgotten as Moni chatted away with him.

"I'm so glad you came to see me, it's a rare pleasure." Moni said, reaching behind her counter putting a large bowl of candy on the table. Viviana watched in amusement and Matteo happily reached in and pull out two candies, handing one to Viviana. He was like a child, then again, weren’t all men?

"Well, we have been a bit preoccupied lately, but I promise to be by more in the future." he said, looking at Viviana as he took the wrapper off his sucker and stuck it in his mouth. Moni looked them both over, and Viviana realized she must be imagining all types of things. With a shake of her head, Viviana turned to Matteo, as he picked up the bag with her purchases.

"Thank you, Matteo, for helping me out. But I can take it from here. I know you are very busy and you are probably needed at the office." Viviana said, taking the bag from him.

"Thank you, Moni, I'll be back to see you soon." She said, walking out the door hastily and continuing down the street. She needed to get as far as she could from this man.

"Hey, Viviana, wait!" He called, picking up the pace to catch up. Of course, at his height, he did so almost instantly.

"Before I go, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. " He said making Viviana turn around to look at him.  She stopped and waited, wondering what it could be.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, thinking maybe it had to do with her father.

"Yes but..." He began to speak but there was suddenly a loud POP.

"miserabili pezzi di merda, luridi branco di cani bastardi!!!"

There was a sudden chaos in the streets. People running and screaming. Viviana was still, frozen as she tried to figure out what was going on, but Matteo grabbed her arm and pushed down to the nearest doorway behind him. There were several more pops, left and right and large SUV drove by, knocking into several parked cars and a table on the corner.

Viviana could hear shots being fired but she did not look up. Instead she curled up into a ball behind Matteo and covered her ears. Her hands were not enough to keep out the sound of gunfire, both from the strangers and from Matteo.

The sound of screeching tires and smell of burning rubber caused Viviana to scream as she pushed herself into a corner.

"luridi porco!!!" she heard the calls as several glass windows around her were shattered by bullets.

'this is it, this is the end.' she thought bitterly, sobbing as the gunshots continued but suddenly, as quickly as it started, it stopped.

Viviana stayed crouched in her corner, her eyes tightly shut, her knees pressed so hard against the pavement that she could feel the blood begin to drip. Her breathing was loud and deep, she felt the world spinning around her.

"Vivi, Vivi." She heard her name being called but couldn't bear to look up. All she knew at that moment was panic.

Matteo stared down the street, the second SUV were his men and had scared off the first. He knew it, he knew there was something going on with the Carangis, he recognized the driver instantly.

As her turned around, he noticed Viviana curled up in the corner, her hands tightly wrapped over her head. Slowly her crouched over her. She was trembling, trembling violently.

"Vivi, vivi, come here." He said, reaching and grabbing her arm. Viviana wouldn't budge, she was in tears. It occurred to him that while usually women did tend to go into hysterics when something like this happened, Viviana might be extra sensitive to it- she had not been around for a very long time.

"Vivi..." he spoke in softer tones, finally getting her to look up. Viviana's eyes were flooded with tears that rolled down her cheeks. It surprised him- she was even more beautiful when she cried and he found himself wanting to protect her.

Viviana looked around nervously, noticing that no one was hurt but there was a lot of damage. she removed her hands from her ears and turned to look at Matteo who was holding her. Because she was frightened and confused, she flung herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulled her to her feet and held her tightly against him.

"Shhh... Vivi mia, it's okay. It's okay." He said, kissing the top of her head and pulling her away for a moment to inspect her.

"Come here." He said, lifting her up when he noticed her knees were bleeding. Viviana hid her face in his neck as he lifted her up and carried her into a nearby shop, there he sat her on a counter and ordered the shop owner to bring clean water, soap and towels.

"What happened?" She asked finally, as Matteo used a damp towel to clean her knees. Matteo looked up at her for a second and then went back to cleaning. She was no longer trembling, but there was still a shiver here and there. Her breathing was calmer, but she was nervous.

"We are still not sure." He said, moving as delicately as possible while trying to remove all the dirt and debris.

As he continued, he suddenly felt Viviana's hand on his shoulder and he looked towards her once more.

"Thank you, Matteo." she said, her eyelashes glistening from tears. Matteo was angry, infuriated that someone should have attacked them.

"I swear, Viviana, we will find out what happened and make them pay." He said, gritting his teeth.

For Viviana the moment was strange. Here he was, gently and carefully taking care of her wounds but at the same time she could feel a fury about him that frightened her.

----

Matteo left Viviana with her housekeeper, instructing two of his men to stay near her. He was heading back to his father's house.

Something had to be done, it was not possible that there had been a shooting in the circuit, much less this close to the Aliotta home. Whether his father liked it or not, things were coming into turmoil again, like they had 10 years ago. Back then, he had been too young to influence his father but now he was a man and in a few years, he would be the next Don. It was time he stepped in- to protect la famiglia.