Chapter Three
2353 Words
Niko
I stay away from my bedroom for as long as possible, but duty calls and my laptop is in my office. So I entered quietly, hoping by some grace of God that Bianca had fallen asleep after our sexually charged encounter in the kitchen. Not that I told her to go to my room, but there's nowhere else for her to sleep here.
Her smell was enticing, and I hadn't forgotten what it felt like to sleep beside her warmth in my bed. The emotions are conflicting, yet I'm still leaning towards being annoyed for having her—particularly as my wife. Luckily for me, though she probably wasn't asleep, she shut the bedroom door, leaving me to roam my office as needed without her knowledge.
There are a few shipments due for arrival, and I must make the calls to see whether they've arrived at their destination. These are shipments of girls and drugs, just a wonderful part of my unwanted f*****g job. But as they say here in the mafia, exclude yourself from the job, put on a brave face and fake your way through—the money talks for itself.
The calls take up the best part of three hours of my life, but I find each arrives promptly. It's only at the end of the last call that the security cameras send a message that movement has been detected out back on the patio.
I switch to the CCTV and watch Emma walk along the small patio and down the steps. She looks to the sky and collapses to the floor, caving in on herself.
This isn't the first time I've seen her escape into the gardens. And yet, tonight seems different; something calls for me to comfort her. Deciding to go out and see if she's okay, I log my laptop off and leave my office quietly in the hopes I don't disturb sleeping f*****g beauty.
"What do I do, Mama?" I hear Emma ask aloud as I step outside. She falls forward, her cries not so quiet filling the garden around us. I wait, unsure if I want to be the one to hold her in such a state. Part of me thinks I should enlighten Luca, that he's best suited for this job. But then I think back on his piss poor behaviour with Emma, and that makes the decision easy.
I move swiftly, kneeling down behind her before wrapping her awkwardly in my arms and pulling her into my chest.
"What's wrong, Queen?"
"I—." She shakes her head, turning her whole body into me. I let myself fall on my arse, laying my legs on the floor before I allow Emma to hide in me.
Kissing her head every few seconds, I rub her back in reassuring circles, much as my aunt used to do when I fell to pieces over the death of another friend.
Emma soon calms, her tears only lasting as long as the wave of grief, no doubt lasts.
"You ready to talk now?" My voice comes out guarded. I could kill Bianca for the hurt she's caused Emma.
Lighting a joint, I lean back from Emma. And she shifts away swiftly.
"I miss my mother," she tells me, holding her hand out for the joint that I give to her without thought.
"I can relate to that; I'm sorry, Queen. No child should have to live without their mother."
Thoughts of my mother flit through my mind, but my grief is so old that I barely react now. I was but a baby when she was killed.
"I'm sorry," she hushes towards me, falling on her back before covering her face.
"Same world, different paths, Emma. But we have each other now. That's something," I admit.
She smokes the joint passively, not letting up on taking what she needs from that small stick of pleasure. I watch with amusement, yet I remember that it wasn't long ago that I heard her telling Luca off for smoking. I should mention it, instead, I bind my tongue and grab another out of the tin in my pocket to smoke myself; God knows I need it.
"She wants Luca," Emma's words take me by surprise. For a moment, I have to think about what she means until she references her sister; that is, "she thinks she deserves him as the firstborn."
"I know," I shrug, it's obvious. She looks at him with childish lust that irks me.
"I'm scared to know she's lying in a bed not far away from your collection of guns," she states.
"I'll move them," I nod. I hadn't thought about this, but she's right. Bianca will be trained to some extent. To what? I don't know, but having my guns at her fingertips probably isn't the best of ideas.
"What if...What if she continues with this tirade of wanting him?"
"Soon, she'll be my wife. I won't let her take him from you, not that he deserves you."
"I'm sorry you've been brought into this mess," she sighs.
"Could be worse; I could be marrying a girl I have no f*****g interest in."
"You like her?" She perks up.
"I did before she hurt you. Perhaps that'll come back, perhaps it won't. Either way, she belongs to me now, and I won't leave room for childish behaviour. She'll grow up real f*****g fast. You don't need to worry, Queen."
"You're not planning on fighting Dimitri over this?" I wish I could...
"I owe him, and we need her to keep things secret. It's the only way. I won't put myself before everyone else in this compound."
"Before me, you mean?" she asks me.
"Before you..."
"She seems resourceful; you should keep an eye on her," she warns.
"She seems pretty depleted at the moment, regretful even. She hasn't stopped crying all night; the sounds are giving me a headache," I half lie. The whimpering sounds from the room could be related to anything, but I guess she regrets things now. And she should; half of her family is dead because of her.
"I used to think I knew her, but there's a side to her I've never met. Maybe she's faking it all; who knows?"
That feeling of being watched ripples through me, making me look up at the house. Sure enough, there Luca stands in the dark, watching yet again as I replay what Emma just said.
"He's not going to be happy," I note.
"You're my brother; what can he do? Besides, he—."
"He?" I repeat her last word.
"Nearly losing me has scared him; he's more like the old Luca than ever before. Things have shifted for the better."
"Don't become complacent, Queen. Some people cover up their bad to trick you," I recite my worries.
"Are you saying that because you truly believe it or because you're still hurt that he distrusted you?"
"Who knows?" I scoff. "I once thought I knew the real Luca. It seems I never did; perhaps none of us do. He's so intent on earning that title that he's lost himself along the way."
"Can you keep a secret, Niko?" She asks.
"That's my speciality," I scoff again. All I do is keep secrets for people around here.
"You don't know the real Luca. If you did, you'd know he doesn't want to be Don."
"I'm not sure he has a f*****g choice," I spit.
"You're wrong; he obviously still needs to ask for your help. But now that we're married, he wants to surrender...to me."
"What?!" I shout.
"As I said, you've never known the real Luca. Will you help us?"
"You sure you want to head this family, take on that responsibility, queen?" I fret.
"I've never been surer of anything in my life," she tells me with confidence. Gritting my teeth, I nod to reassure her I'm on board. I'm f*****g not, but I'm not about to land myself in Luca's shoes of being in the wrong.
"I'll look into the process," I nod.
"Remember, keep it quiet. We haven't told Dimitri yet."
"That's going to be fun," I call to her as she leaves me, obviously having been summoned by Luca. I glance up at Luca, who's watching me intently; I give a quick nod and then turn back around to finish my spliff.
I worked into the early hours of the morning, dotting i's and crossing t's. I needed a distraction, as my anger threatened to wake Bianca up.
It turns out she's been making herself as homely as possible. When I checked on her, I found my clothes dumped haphazardly on my bed, and I also noted my clothes on her body.
I stood in the doorway contemplating tying her hands above her head and waking her up to orgasm denial. She deserved it; I should have done it. But she looked so peaceful sleeping there on 'her' side of the bed. So I got to work finishing Luca's jobs for him. Then I got a call from one of my informers from Dimitri's men, making up my mind not to wake Bianca at all.
"Dimitri has a wake-up call, a personal shipment is incoming. Luca's needed down the docks," is all Elliot says before he drops the phone call. And I know Luca will get a phone call simultaneously, so I rise from my desk, taking a spliff with me as I light it up. Sure enough, he exits his room just as I lean back on the wall opposite his office.
"Best answer that," I smile at his vibrating phone. Isn't it just wonderful when you already know what someone else doesn't?
"Father?" He answers, listening intently thereafter.
He looks at me with a frown. I'm not sure what his father said, but he isn't too pleased with me.
"I don't know what you're referring to, Father. Special?Fine, an hour. Emma and I will be there. No chance, Father. You placed her number one enemy inside my compound. She comes," he hisses through clenched teeth. I close the door to his office, standing inside with him. My spliff hangs from my mouth, and I inhale as much as I can while holding my breath.
"I'm not leaving it up for chance," he sighs as I take a seat. I'm not sure what to do while he argues with his father, but as soon as I relax back, the door handle rattles, and there Emma stands in nothing but lingerie. I avert my gaze, but not before I get enough of an eyeful that it makes me feel sick.
"One hour," Luca states, obviously finished with his father. His attention immediately goes to Emma, his nose flaring as he takes in her state of undress. I'm almost one hundred percent sure that if I hadn't have been sat here, he would have jumped her bones.
"Morning," Emma greets us both.
"Good morning, Bambina. Could you find Anna and ask for a to-go bag for breakfast?" Luca directs. I smirked at him. It was obvious he wanted her out of here in her state.
"Of course," Emma agrees almost instantly. Leaving very quickly.
I can't help but grin with discontent. He has her right where he wants her, and I'm sick of it.
"We should talk," I interject.
"Yes...we should," Luca nods at me. He's about to say something else, but I don't give him a chance.
"I'll marry her...Bianca."
"I'm not sure you have a choice, Niko."
"Like you lack the choice of taking over from your father?" I scoff. "There's always ways around things, and we both know it. Whilst we're on that note, section 7A.i, you can abdicate to your spouse before takeover upon the previous Don agreeing to the spouse being a suitable successor. Good luck with that," I tell him.
I stand up and walk towards the window; an inkling tells me I want to. Of course, as I slide beside Luca, I pass the paperwork I finished this morning and the printout of the binding contracts all Dons must adhere to.
Bianca stands in the midst of our men as I gaze outside, training just as Emma did in those first weeks she accustomed herself here.
"You sure you want to saddle Emma with this responsibility?" I ask bitterly.
"She's better suited."
"Never took you as a—." Coward.
"Finish that sentence," Luca spits, his hand around my throat, my back hitting the window.
"You hate the thought of being made into that man, yet you're happy to put my sister in that position. Do you want her to kill at every f*****g turn, Luca? Her life will be full of constant responsibilities. What about your children? How will she care for them when she'll always be needed elsewhere? Be a f*****g man, take on the responsibility yourself."
"Don't mistake that I'll be there as her equal, Niko. I just don't want to be Don," his words come like a cry from a damned baby.
"p***y," I holler.
"Do you want to land in a coffin, Niko?"
"Are you going to demand she kill me? 'Cause I'm not sure you remember how to pull the f*****g trigger?" I chuckle.
"Watch yourself, or you might find yourself and your new bride buried in the flowers," Luca bluffs.
It's then that, by God's grace, Emma resurfaces, opening the office door and entering. Luca drops his hold real quick as Emma faces us.
"We have places to be," he reveals as if he didn't just have me up by my throat with the intent to harm me.
"Work?" She asks.
"Down at the docks," he nods. I stand around passively, keeping quiet whilst assessing the pair of them. But movement from the garden has me turning away. Bianca was pressed on the floor by one of the men.
Anger lances through me; a deep need to protect her is almost my undoing. Instead, I drag on the spliff that needs relighting and stares endlessly out of the glass pane as Luca and Emma disappear.
- Writer
