Heart of the Mafia

Chapter One The Rough First Encounter Alex's POV The first punch. The crowd's cheers. The tingling in my knuckles. The blood on my fist. The adrenaline rush in my system. It all felt nice. I wanted more. I rushed forward and rained punches on my poor opponent, not giving him a chance to fight back. As my opponent fell to the floor in surrender, the bell rang and the referee raised my hand in victory. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner of this battle is none other than your favorite, my favorite, The Brawler," the referee announced, and the crowd erupted in louder cheers. I smirked as I looked around the room, greeting my fans. Afterward, I was escorted out of the ring by my manager and was taken to my warm-up room. I had my bath to get rid of the sweaty odor and replaced my sweaty clothes with fresh ones. Suddenly, my phone rang, and a smile appeared on my face when I saw who the caller was. "Hey bro, what's up?" I said. "Dude, that was the best match I've seen all my life. You really do not show your opponents any mercy," my best friend, Marco, said. "Yeah cos they don't deserve it. Anyway, is our plan still on for tonight?" I asked. "Of course. We have to celebrate your win. Antonio and I are waiting outside for you by car. Hurry up," Marco replied. "I'll be with you shortly." "Alright bro." My manager walked in and said, "Nice job today, Alex. You did well once again." "Sure. When's my next match?" I asked. "I'm not sure about that yet, but when I get the information I'll let you know immediately," my manager, Carlos, replied. "Thanks man," I said, doing the bro shake with him. "Oh before I forget, here is your pay from today's fight," Carlos said, handing me a brown envelope. "You know I won't take it. Just keep it; you need it more than I do," I said. "You refuse to accept your pay after every fight. Why do you even come here to fight when you don't need the money?" I tapped his shoulder and smiled before replying, "I do it for the thrill and catharsis. That's all. Anyway, keep the money. I have to go now. My friends are waiting for me outside." "Thank you, Alex," Carlos said. "Sure no problem," I said as I grabbed my bag and walked out of the room. ********** "Yo, check that girl out," Antonio said, pointing at a hot chick dancing with her friends at the club. After I joined my friends outside the underground fighting arena, we headed to the club to celebrate. We sat in our usual corner and began to talk about all the sexy girls in the club. Marco and I looked in the direction Antonio pointed and there was definitely a hot chick standing there. "Ooh, she's sexy," Marco said. I eyed her seductively, licking my lips before I said, "I'm sure she'd look good in my bed tonight." My friends hyped me up as I said that. We continued looking at other girls, some less attractive than others. Suddenly, I saw her lady and called the attention of my friends to her. "Yo, look at that skinny girl. Her ass is as flat as a board," I said, making my friends and I burst into laughter. "I know right. She's less sexy than a wet sock," Marco said. "And so unattractive. Who would want to date her?" Antonio added, making us laugh even harder. The girl turned to look at us with tear-filled eyes before running off, making my friends and I roll on our bellies figuratively until we were interrupted by someone. "Excuse me," a feminine voice said, making my friends and I turned in the direction of the voice. "What's the matter, lady?" Marco asked. "I was sitting over there with my friends and I couldn't help but overhear the conversation between you and your friends," the lady said. "Oh yeah? And what is it to you? Are you even supposed to be eavesdropping on our conversation?" I asked. "Well, for starters, the person you made fun of is a lady like me. And second thing, you and your friends acted very immature and rude. And if I were you, I would stop being rude to people," the girl said. I faced her, getting interested in what was going on now. People were beginning to notice the commotion and were slowly gathering around. "And who the f**k are you to tell me what to do?" I asked. "I'm the one person who is not afraid of people like you and your friends. You and your friends think you're so tough and funny, but the truth is you can't handle a little kindness because you probably weren't raised with it," she added. "Ohhhh," the crowd went on. I felt my face heat up in anger. I was mad at her boldness. No one had ever spoken to me in that way. Just as I was about to speak again, she interrupted me, "And by the way, that poor girl may not have the body type you find attractive in women, but at least she has the brains you might not even possess." The crowd went wild again. I tried to come up with a clap back but nothing came to mind. I got up from my seat and took a few steps towards her, but she stood still, staring back straight into my eyes as if daring me to do my worst. At that point, I just knew she had won the argument and I had lost. Suddenly, her friends came and dragged her out of the club. I couldn't believe I'd been schooled by a girl, a mere girl. Looking around the club, I saw some of the crowd still laughing. I was beyond upset and embarrassed. "Let's get out of here," I said to my friends. Chapter Two Sting of Defeat Alex's POV As my friends and I walked out of the club, I still felt greatly embarrassed. I have never been talked down to by anyone before and the fact that that girl had the courage to face me and talk down on me made me even more upset. "Bro, you got served. That girl got you hard," Antonio said, laughing as Marco joined in as they shook hands and laughed even harder. "Shut up guys. I only let her because she's a lady. If it were to be a fellow man, I would have knocked out a tooth more," I said, panting hard in anger. "Oh really, so we're giving excuses now, right?" Marco asked, and they burst into laughter again. I glared at them as they stopped laughing and only continued stifling their giggles. "Let's just leave," I said to them, and we continued walking to the car. When we got to where the car was parked, we got him and hit the road immediately. I was quiet during the ride while Marco and Antonio talked about an entirely different topic. I just couldn't get my mind off what had happened in the club. Who was that girl? How could she summon the courage to speak to me like that? Then suddenly, an idea came into my head. "Guys, I need to find out who that girl is, and I need you to help me with that," I said, interrupting their argument over who was the best artiste. Marco, who was driving, and Antonio, who was sitting by his side in the passenger's seat, looked at each other before turning back to look at me in the back seat. "Why? So you can get your revenge against her for what she did?" Antonio asked. "Of course, what else?" I replied. "I thought you said she was a lady, and you would let her go," Marco asked, turning back to face the road. "I just realized that no one can speak to me in that way and get away with it, be it a man or a woman. The only difference is my revenge varies depending on whether it's a man or a woman," I replied. "Are you sure that's the only reason you want to find out about her? Or are you already interested?" Marco asked, wiggling his eyebrows, which I could see from the rear mirror. I hit the back of his head and he cried out in pain. "Ouch." "How can I be interested in that ugly looking thing?" I said, but I knew I was lying. The girl was pretty, very pretty. "Did you say ugly? That girl looked like an angel even when she was yelling at you," Antonio said, and they both laughed again. It just seemed as if they had planned to mock me all day. "An angel? Oh, please don't compare that ugly duckling to a perfect angel. It seems you need to see an eye doctor to get your eyes checked," I said. "Anyway, Marco and I can help you find out who she is. It might take a while since we don't know her name or where she's from, but we'll try our best, right Marco?" Antonio said, and Marco responded with "Right." I remained quiet for the rest of the ride while Antonio and Marco continued with their argument. Shortly, we arrived at my house and Marco stopped the car. "Thanks guys," I said as I hopped out of the car. "Sure bro. See you tomorrow," Marco said as we shook. "Yh bro, bye," Antonio said as we shook hands. I watched them zoom away before entering through the gates of my father's expansive fenced property. My father, Don Marco, was one of the most feared Mafia leaders in California. He fathered my twin brother, Leonardo and I and has been there for us since our mother passed away. As I walked in through the gate, one of my father's men approached me and said, "Good evening Sir Alex, your father asked to see you." I nodded and went into the house and straight to father's study because I knew that was where he would be, and I was right. As I pushed the study doors open, I could hear the sound of video playing. He looked up and saw me. "Ah Alex, you're here," he said. "Good evening dad," I greeted him. "Come, come," he said, beckoning to me, and I approached him at his desk. "Look what I am watching," he said, turning the phone in my direction, and my eyes widened. It was the video of my encounter with the strange girl at the club. One of those bastards must have videoed the whole thing, I thought as my anger rose. "I'm watching the video of your humiliation," dad said before chuckling. "It's not funny Dad," I said. "Well, you have to admit that it's a bit funny. I want to meet the girl who had so much guts to speak to you that way," Dad said. "Well, you're right on that one. She has guts. Anyway, is this why you sent for me, Dad?" I asked. "No, there's something else I would want to discuss with you," Dad replied, a serious look on his face. "Have a seat," he added, and I did as I was instructed. "Alessandro, I found out you've been engaging in underground fighting. I want you to stop that immediately. You are a De Luca, a mafia heir. One day, you'll take over from me. I don't want you to build a bad reputation for yourself," dad said. "Dad, I..." "I wasn't requesting you. I was commanding you as your father. Have I made myself clear? " He said with a firm voice. "Yes," I replied, feeling a bit upset about the whole situation. He wanted to get back to his work. "May I leave now, Father?" I asked. He simply grunted and I got up and left. Chapter Three Unmasking the Girl Alex's POV Days passed since the confrontation with the strange girl and with dad's reputation, I was able to get my embarrassing, humiliating video off of the internet. Although people stared at me in college whenever I passed by my friends, they were still fearful of me, which was more important. One weekend, I was on the phone with Marco and Antonio. "What do you mean you still haven't found the girl? She's not a ghost, for goodness's sake. She's a real person. Why can't you find out who she is?" I was yelling at them in frustration. "Well, it's not really our fault, bro. It's almost as if this girl doesn't exist. We've tried our best, but we still couldn't find her," Marco replied. Just as I was about to speak back, there was a knock on my door and, without waiting for my permission to come in, my door was pushed open, and I looked up to see it was Leo, my twin brother. Leo and I never really saw eye to eye, so we were not really close despite being identical twins. "Excuse me guys, I have to deal with something," I said to my friends over the phone. Then I dropped the phone and looked up at Leo, " What the heck, man? Couldn't you have at least waited for me to ask you to come in?" "Why do you have to go about causing trouble when you know that the repercussions of what you've done would fall back?" Leo asked, seeming really upset. I looked at him, confusion etched on my face. "What the f**k are you talking about, bro?" I asked him. "Oh, so you're going to act like you don't know what I'm talking about," he said. "Yes, until you tell me what exactly you mean," I answered, starting to feel upset. "What happened between you and a girl at the club a few days ago?" He asked me. I remembered exactly what he was talking about, so I replied, "I don't think that's any of your business, bro." He scoffed, then replied, "Well, it is my business because we have the same stature and face and I just got insulted in college by some random lady who accused me of being disrespectful to ladies at the club." I looked at him surprised and asked, "Did you just say the lady confronted you in college?" He looked at me confused before replying, "Yes, but what has that got to do with what I'm telling you?" "Bingo," I said with a smile on my face. Then I picked up my phone and began to dial Marco's number when Leo interrupted me again. "So what, you're just going to ignore me after causing trouble for me? Do you know what it took for me to convince the lady that I wasn't the one she met at the club?" Leo said. Without looking up at him, I said, "Sorry about that bro. You should be used to this already." He scoffed and said, "It's useless talking to you anyway. It's not like this will be the last time." With that, he walked out of my room while I finally got a hold of Marco and Antonio. "I think I know where she is," I said as soon as they picked up the call. ************** Marco, Antonio and I stood under the oak tree, resting on my car. "Are you sure she's going to pass this route?" I asked Marco. "Yes, she follows this route to the Library every afternoon when she's done with classes," Marco replied. "Urrgghh!, such a nerd," I said in disgust. A few days ago, when I called my friends and told them that I knew where the strange girl was, I was so sure she was a student at the same college I went to, at least based on what Leo told me. I told them to find the girl and get back to me. Fast-forward to today and Marco and Antonio called me, saying they've found her. I drove down to school, and now we were waiting for her to come out of classes. "What information do you say you have on her again?" I asked. "Her name is Lily De Santos. She's 23, and she's a Scholarship student at our school," Antonio replied. "There she is!" Marco yelled, pointing in one direction. I looked in the direction he had pointed, and then she was approaching us. She was saying goodbye to friends and after they had gone their separate, I began to approach her, Marco and Antonio following behind. "Well, well, well, if it wasn't the girl who thought she could embarrass me and get away with it," I said. She rolled her eyes at me and asked, "What do you want, Alessandro?" "Oh, she knows my name. I'm guessing my brother must have told you my name. He told me about his encounter with you," I said. "Oh yeah, he told me about how different he is from his jerk of a twin. And as I got to know him, I realized he was saying the truth. You are both totally different from each other. Leo is far much better than you are," Lily said. I felt a bit upset that she thought Leo was a better person than I was, but I didn't let it show that I was angry, so I smirked and replied instead, "Yeah, I know we're different. He's a weakling and I'm not." She rolled her eyes again and asked, "What do you want from me, Alessandro?" "An apology, for publicly embarrassing me at the club the other day," I replied. "I'd do no such thing. I'm not going to apologize for standing up against a bully," she said without fear, and I was beyond pissed. After pushing back and forth, and she still insisted on not apologizing, I said to her, "Watch your back. I'll make you pay." Chapter Four Alex's POV The Best Revenge Backfires "I want you to revoke Lily De Santos' scholarship," I said to the Chancellor, Mr. DeVille Johnson. The following day after my talk with Lily, I decided that the best way to get back at her was to terminate her scholarship. That was enough revenge for the embarrassment she caused me, so I went to the Chancellor's office to speak to him about it. "But why, Mr. De Luca? Miss Lily De Santos is one of our best and brightest students here at Stanford. Her professors have said I'd things about her too. She's an exemplary student. I don't see any reason why I should terminate her scholarship except if there's something you know that I don't," Mr. Johnson said. "I'm not going to make up a*********s about her. I'm just going to say that she embarrassed me and I think this is the only way to make her pay," I said. "But that's so unfair, Mr. De Luca. I can't revoke someone's scholarship because of your personal issue with that person. I think you sh..." "Mr. Johnson, I have information about you that could ruin your reputation and would most likely cause you to lose your job," I interrupted. The Chancellor furrowed his brows in confusion and asked, "What do you mean, Mr. De Luca?" "I know about you met with Miss Anderson, the professor of medicine. Mr. Johnson, I'm sure you know it's against the school rules to have an affair with a staff or student of the school to prevent favoritism and the likes of it. If you can do what I ask, Mr. Johnson, I'll seal my lips, otherwise..." I replied. Mr. Johnson signed in what I assumed was defeat. He looked at me with an annoyed look on his face before saying, "Fine Mr. De Luca. I will revoke Miss De Santos' scholarship but promise not to leak my secret to anyone. Let it be between you and me alone." "Of course, Mr. Johnson. I knew you'd understand. Have a nice day sir," I said, getting up from my seat. I walked out of the office afterward with a smirk on my face, feeling victorious and proud of myself. The following day, I heard that Lily had been sent out of school. I felt satisfied with what I had done. I had gotten my revenge against Lily De Santos and to me at that moment, that was all that mattered to me. Little did I know that my victory was short-lived. I was in my bedroom one afternoon on the weekends when I heard a knock on my door and one of the maids opened the door. "Master Alex, your father wishes to see you in his study," she said. What could father want to see me for? I thought. I dismissed the maid and got out of bed, before making my way out of the room. I walked down to his study after giving the door a gentle tap, I pushed it open. As I walked into the room, I noticed Leo was hers too. "Okay so, a family meeting?" I thought. "Good afternoon dad," I greeted him, but Dad did not respond. "Bro," I said, nodding my head towards Leo, but he looked away angrily. Okay, what's going on? I thought. "Is it true that I hear that you had a young lady's scholarship terminated?" Dad asked me, looking really pissed. I looked away from him, wondering how he found out about it. Did Mr. Johnson, tell him? No, he wouldn't dare, not when I had a secret that could ruin his whole reputation. "I ASKED A QUESTION, ALESSANDRO. DID YOU DO IT? AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT LYING TO ME," dad roared in anger. "Yes dad but..." I was saying, but was interrupted by dad. "Why would you do such a thing to a poor girl? I hear she was the one who embarrassed you at the club the other day. Was that enough reason to have an intelligent lady sent out of school? Thank God your brother found out and came to tell me about it. I also confirmed from Mr. Johnson," he asked. "Mr. Johnson told you?" I asked in shock. "Yes, and he also told me what you threatened him with, and before you started thinking about how you would leak his secret, I had already spoken to the necessary authorities about it, and they're okay with Mr. Johnson's relationship with Miss Anderson," Dad replied. F**K!!! I thought silently. My plans had failed. "I know I raised you both as a Mafia father who is involved in a lot of illegal activities and all, but I never raised you to be this callous, especially not to the innocent ones. For what you've done, I'm going to punish you. First, you should apologize to Mr. Johnson for the stupid stunt you played on him, and then you'd apologize to the young lady whom you've caused so much pain and after that, you're grounded till further notice," dad continued. "Grounded? No dad, I have stuff I do. You cannot ground me," I said. I had a match at the fighting arena tonight and dad grounding me now was going to make me miss it, which cannot happen. "I can and I have. If you're not okay with it, you can pack your things and leave my house. But if you remain under my roof, then you must abide by my rules," dad said. I couldn't believe what was happening. I can't believe my whole plan blew up in my face. Once again, I had lost to that lowlife Lily. I glared at Leo before storming out of father's office angrily and making my way back to my room. I wasn't going to allow that low life ruin my life. I had to find a way to leave this house for my fight tonight. I called my friends and explained to them. "I have a plan," Marco said. Chapter Five Shocking Discovery Alex's POV That night, after everyone else had gone to bed, I snuck out of the house to go to the fighting arena to have my match. It wasn't easy sneaking out because of my father's men who were braking about the area, but I managed to pull it off. When I got to the arena, and it was time for my match, I transferred all the aggression and frustration I was feeling onto my opponent. As always, I won again. I quickly escaped back into the house before anyone would notice that I was missing. Days passed since then, and I only went from school and back home and back to school again the next day. One night while we were having dinner, Leo asked, "Dad, is it okay if my girlfriend joins us for lunch tomorrow?" Before Dad could respond, I snickered. "Is there any problem Alex?" Leo asked me with a serious look on his face. "Oh me? There's no problem at all. I was just wondering what kind of girl would accept to date you," I replied, snickering again. "And what's wrong with your brother?" Dad asked. "Nothing Dad," I replied. Dad looked like he wanted to say something else but decided to let it go. He turned back to Leo with a smile on his face and said, "Of course. Your girlfriend can join us for lunch tomorrow. I'll ask the chef to prepare something nice." "Thanks Dad," Leo replied with a smile. "By the way, what's the name of this girlfriend of yours and why am I just hearing about her?" Dad asked. "You know her Dad. Her name is..." Leo was saying before he was interrupted by the ringtone on dad's phone. "Excuse me," Dad said, getting up from the table. *********** I stood at the door, jaws dropped as I stared at the person who was standing in front of me. Lily De Santos. "What the hell are you doing in my house? How did you know I live here anyway? Have you been stalking me?" I asked all at once. "And why would I be stalking you? Anyway, I'm here to see Leo. He invited me over for lunch," Lily replied. My eyes widened in shock. "So you're Leo's..." I was saying. "Hey babe," Leo interrupted as he came to the door. I watched as Lily's face went from an angry expression to a smiley expression. I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that my twin brother was dating my worst enemy. Could this get any worse, I asked myself. "Please come with me. Dad will soon be back from the office, and then we can have lunch. For now, let's head up to my room," Leo said. "Okay," she replied, and together they walked into the house and up the stairs until they disappeared into Leo's bedroom. Yesterday, dad had to leave after his phone call as it had to do with business, so Leo could not reveal who his girlfriend was, hence my shock when I found out now who his girlfriend was. I returned to my room, feeling upset, but 10 minutes later, one of the maids came to inform me that the launch was ready. "I'm not hungry," I said to her. "Your dad ordered that you must be at the dining table since we have a guest," the maid replied. I groaned in frustration. As if having Lily as my twin brother's girlfriend wasn't enough, now I was stuck having lunch with her at our house too. I dismissed the maid and angrily began to prepare lunch. As I walked downstairs, I was still fooling about the new discovery of Lily being Leo's girlfriend. I was even more upset with Leo for dating someone who embarrassed me publicly. He's supposed to stay far away from her because of what she did to me. I could hear the sound of my father's laughter and that of Lily as they chatted. Dad noticed my presence and said, "Hey Alex, join us." I approached them and took a seat at the table. I hadn't fully gotten comfortable in my seat when dad said, "Alex, look who we have here." I looked at his face and saw he was trying to mock me. Of course, you remember who Lily was. "I can see dad. I never would have imagined that my own brother, no scratch that, my twin brother, what date, someone that publicly disgraced me. What are brother you are," I said, looking over at Leo as I made the last statement. "Well, Lily is a nice person. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't date her. Whatever problem you both have is between both of you," Leo replied, not a smile on his face. "Your brother is right, Alex. Whatever beef you have with Lily is between you two. Don't drag your brother or his relationship with Lily into it. I'm just happy that Leo has finally found someone, and he's happy," dad said. I scoffed in disbelief. "I can't believe you're taking their side. I can't believe you're taking her side. You know what she did to me, dad. You saw the video," I said. "And you got your revenge. You had her scholarship revoked, didn't you? You had your revenge," Dad said. I was speechless and angry. I knew better than to argue with dad, so I said, "Whatever. Can we just have lunch already?" On that note, we started eating. Dad and Lily were talking. Dad was asking her questions about her life, school and parents. Lily answered every question and Dad seemed to be impressed with everything she was saying. In not time, we were done with lunch and Lily thanked dad for inviting her. "Can you point me to the restroom, please?" She asked. "Come with me. I'll take you, "Leo said. No, it's fine. Just tell me where it is.