My Mother's Boyfriend

Monitoring

Alejandro

“Excuse me,” I declare, holding up one hand at the man who stares at me dumbfounded while I take the phone from the man who is next to me. “It’s the wife- you know how that is- no? Never married?”

The *sshole in the pea-green suit turns his head away from me.

“Advise yeah? Always pick up, no matter the situation you are in, si?” I smirk as I turn away from his current situation, nodding my head towards Marcus and Daniel, who stepped forward from the other five men inside the basement room.

Currently, I am with Sano, the guy whom Thomas borrowed money from to gamble. This shitshow of a human knew who we were but figured he could take us on as we were ‘soft’ in the belly and not the ‘real deal’ like him.

His words, not mine. He had told this to his men, who were glad to give him up when we paid them a handsome amount of cash. It totalled to a quarter of what Thomas owed the scum.

“Yeah?” I picked up the call not because it was my ‘wife’ calling but because I knew why she was calling. I was expecting it. Monday morning, Peter would be driving her to her new uni. It was a necessary move to keep my privacy intact- something my young inexperienced and innocent wife will not comprehend. Maya is the type to argue as she is strong-headed, and I think her father, Russell, was stifling her. Maybe he knew and was proud of her at first Uma felt, just as Russell was when they had now met. But Uma’s ‘betrayal’ towards him was possibly the reason behind Russell ensuring Maya did not 'become like her mother' and prohibiting her from her friends and social life.

However, it did cause me to wonder about why he did allow her to return to her studies after keeping her away from it. Or was he a good father to her and was keeping her home because of the controversy surrounding her mother and me?

“This isn’t my university,” her tone is a bit pitched.

“Well, of course, it isn’t Maya. Why would I send you-”

“But all my friends-”

“Maya- shh, calm down and listen to me,” I cover the mouthpiece with my fingertip, fixing my gaze on Sano who still stared at the messy wall. “Wifey needs some attention, scusami (sorry).”

Walking outside of the heavy door, Robert closes it firmly behind me as I walk up the steep staircase. “Given your love for your ‘education’ as you put it, darling, where you study should not matter, should it?”

My wife goes silent- but only for a moment while I continue up the stairs slowly.

“But my friends-”

Breaking her off again, I say simply, “You prefer to stay home here with mama?”

Silence.

“She would love the company, especially when she uses the pool.” Maya never uses the indoor pool, but my mother always insists someone stay with her while she uses it and lately, that’s Maya a lot of the time.

Giving her time to allow my words to percolate, I halt at the top of the stairs, turning back to face the huge metal door at the bottom. Squinting my eyes, I press my thumb and index fingers against my eyebrows, rubbing the thick strands of short hair. “Cara, (dear) I am who I am, and you are now part of my life, mia moglie (my wife) and so you cannot be prancing around cooly without a care. You have become the most precious thing to me, and my enemies will search for you, just to take me down. Do you understand?”

Perhaps she will now be conscious of why I deleted all the pictures of her social media account that showed her entire face, though she never asked. Maya's appearance is different in her marital make-up than how she typically looks, so she will not be recognised easily if she goes to a different university.

She is similar to her mother and prefers little to no make-up and it suits her personality. But I must keep her away from those pesky reporters. For now, I have instructed her that whenever she is in public with me or members of my family, she is to dress and act a certain way. “I am a dangerous man, Maya, you know this, and I have acquired many dangerous enemies along the way, even inheriting some.”

“But-”

Closing my eyes, I blow out a loud breath. “It’s either this- a fresh start to finish what you are so adamant about, or you can just be the pristine wife you should be seen as in tabloids.” I feel the smirk upon my lips, “The beautiful wife of the vintner,” I pause for added effect and say in a lower and more slowed tone, “Visualise it my cara.”

“But-”

The sound of her voice on the earpiece now is the same voice that I heard on Uma’s phone, and it triggers something inside me and my upper lip rears up in disgust.

“There is no but. I offer you plenty more than you deserve-” Anger growing inside me has me cutting off my words and taking a deep breath when I wanted to shout at her for the way she treated her mother. She called her a ‘sult’ when Uma called her repeatedly and she finally picked up.

Not waiting for me to continue on, Maya cuts off the call.

Re-entering the fusty room, I stretch my lips broadly.

Stooping to the balls of my feet, I inquire slowly, “Tell me, Sano,” one hand over my right charcoal-coloured covered knee while my other hand come to my face. My index finger comes vertically across my lips while the tip of the same finger, in a pulsing motion, touches the bottom of my nose tip. “How does one rack up three million to six and how does property end up in your name that belongs to my father?”

The blooded and bruised-faced man stares at me calmly through his one good eye as the other one is swollen shut. He spits on the floor, his thick saliva meshed with his blood, his one eye blinking as his busted mouth sneers. “Ask your brother.”

Maya and her silly drama are far at the back of my mind now.

***

Glaring at Peter, I frown when I see Maya blush as he opens the door for her. A few words are exchanged between them, and she then comes inside while he goes off to the side of the house where he meets up with Marcus and Henry.

Daniel is with me right now, with one of the family lawyers, while Angelo and Robert are cleaning up the basement with a few others of our men. It had taken four days to break Sano. And Thomas had done nothing but flirt with one of his ‘women’, so he took that as a sign of disrespect.

In my world, Sano is what we call a leach. A fcuking wannabe. Filth. Putamadre.

He accused Thomas as an opportunity to grow his name. His fcuking clan. If word had spread about Thomas, his life would have been put on burn notice, most likely because we lived by codes. One is that we do not mess with each other’s mistresses or wives.

And even attempting to take my father’s property as payment? Sano ended up being whacked instead.

Fcuk that fcuker anyway, what is going on with my wife and Peter?

The other night, I also noticed the way Maya looked at him when he caught her. I had stood just outside the room and had seen her staring out into the night and Peter who was on the inside, seated on the couch in the dimly lit room, busy playing some stupid game on his phone and informed me that she had been talking to her brother earlier. When I asked him why he hadn’t put on the light for the veranda, he said he asked her earlier and she seemed to not hear him, so he figured she needed the time alone.

Nodding, I had known what he meant. Being part of a family such as ours can be more than overwhelming. I had sent him over to check on her then when I witnessed what passed between them- or maybe it was just on Maya’s part, I think now, I had thought of it as nothing before.

Would I have to hurt Peter if I was wrong and there indeed was ‘something’? After all, it would be seen as a deep disrespect for him to even think of my wife in this manner. Wars raged because of such betrayal.

Perhaps.

And if I did, his body might not reach his family’s home. Betrayal like this never ends well for a mere caporegime. Both Maya and Peter’s family would be left wondering ‘what happened’ to their loved one.

I do not want this for Maya. I need her to get to the bottom of what and who was behind Uma’s murder, so, this will not do.

It is already difficult for me right now because my friend in the police force has been transferred out of our vicinity, and it was proving beyond hard to get the police to do what the government is already paying them to do- you know, solve crimes.

At first, I did play with the idea of just ending Russell Patel’s pathetic life but what if I was wrong? Hah- I am not. Seriously, I thought of it, and I know me. I know that ending his life will not ease my mind. I need the details of that specific moment. I know what caused him to do the deed, but I need more information. Why, when, how...what was his breaking point?

He was full of rage and jealousy. When did his need for revenge sprout? The growing fear and anger inside him... had he been conscious or unconscious of it? Was it spontaneous or premeditated? Did he act alone? Were his parents involved? Did they assist him? Were they innocent of the actual murder but helped him clean up his story?

No, I could not just off Russell. And I cannot let my mafia family know my reasons for marrying Maya either. If they ever find out, Russell and his parents would be dead within the hour.

And now that I look at my wife and my man, her actions have me thinking about something that had entered my mind, but I had dismissed them.

Her lack of emotions towards her mother’s death. Maybe the girl had grieved. But even so...isn’t flirting and behaving so...wantonly... unusual, just months after a loved one’s death?

My heart darkens and is pierced with a sharp pain.

Was Maya involved in her own mother’s death?