Chapter 4
1300 Words
Lorenzo
The moment Mara De Luca walked out of my study,the room felt empty and dull.
She hadn’t rejected my proposal nor accepted it neither.
Interesting.
Most people trembled in my presence. They lowered their gazes,agreed to whatever I demanded for before I even finished speaking.
But Not Mara.
She looked me in my eyes.
She challenged me.
It’s been so long since any person I’ve ever met challenged me.
Even s****l partners.
She sparked my interest in her.
She reminded me of someone I hadn’t seen in years.
A knock on the door distracted my thought of her.
“Come in”
The door opened, my consigliere,Matteo stepped inside.
He looked at me with a knowing smile, he then leaned against the doorframe.
“So…., you have really made your intentions known to her.”
I walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured myself a glass of whiskey neat.
“Have the lawyers prepare the marriage contract.”
His smile dropped.
“You are really serious about this marriage matter.”
“I don’t make jokes.”
“For the past five years, you’ve rejected every woman your allies tried to set you up with. Out of Nowhere,you want to marry A mafia princess.”
The irony.
I took a slow sip before settling down the glass.
“This isn’t a love match.”
“It isn’t”, he inquires curiously.
He looks at me carefully.
The truth was the De Luca family had been one of my biggest allies and few out of the allies I trusted.Whoever had orchestrated their brutal massacres wasn’t simply after their empire and Salvatore is my brother and one of the people I can count on. So if I didn’t help Mara when he’s unavailable, what type of person am I.If I can’t take care of Mara on his behalf.
And if they had the courage to wipe out the De Luca family.
They’re much closer than we realize.
Protecting Mara isn’t charity.
Matteo folded his arms.
“Should I inform our other members or the board.”
“Don’t,Not yet.”, I said firmly.
“They’ll want an explanation.”
“I don’t need their permission to marry.Although, they may get one after she signs the contract.”
“And what if she refuses,she wouldn’t.”
You are so full of yourself”,Matteo chided.
Matteo isn’t only my consigliere; he’s also my cousin, and we pretty much were raised together, although he didn’t attend the same academy Salvatore met at but he’s aware of the bond between Salvatore and I.
I’ve seen the fear of losing everything her family had built, she’s definitely going to accept my proposal.”
“Cocky bastard”,he muttered under his breath.
A stubborn girl like Mara didn’t surrender because she’s weak,she surrendered because she had no choice.
A soft laugh echoed down the hallway.
“Daddy”
I turned just in time to catch the small body launching itself toward me.
Angel
She wrapped her little arms around my neck,her curls bouncing as she giggled at me.
“I have been looking for you.”, she said animatedly.
“I’ve been working”
“You love working and you work too much”
She frowned, removing my hair from my face, therefore placing her two hands on my cheeks.
“You promised to read my Princess Jasmine book to me today.”
“I remember”
“You always do, I love you so much Daddy”
“Daddy loves you more my angel”
“I love you in a million times”
“Daddy loves you till infinity and beyond”
“What is infinity, Daddy”, she asked curiously.
“Infinity means forever, my angel.”
“I love daddy till infinity”,she said giggling.
Her laughter was contagious, I found myself smiling at her.
She rested her head against my chest,feeling contended and peaceful in my arms.
“Daddy,will the pretty lady come back”
“Mara?”
She nodded eagerly and looked extremely excited.
“I like her, she’s so pretty and nice.” Is she your girlfriend.
“What do you know about girlfriend”, I asked poking fingers at her nose.
“Auntie Emilia said that when I grow up, I’ll meet my Prince Charming and he will be my boyfriend in the future.”
“No, you are not having a boyfriend in the nearest future, I’ll need to talk to Emilia,she talks a lot”
Emilia is my only sister and she’s very stubborn and she doesn’t take no for an answer.
“And about Mara, you’ve known her for less than five minutes.”
“I still like her”
I carried my angel upstairs and tucked her into her bed.She clutched her stuffed monkey to her chest and she is surrounded with some of her stuffed animals.
“Daddy, if you marry the pretty lady does that mean I’ll have a mommy again?”
My heartbeat slowed.The question hit harder than a sneaky attack.
I held her hand and I asked her to look at my face.
“No one can replace your mother,we can’t see her but she’s always with us.”
“I know.” Her voice grew quieter.
“Maybe I’ll have a new mommy, she will love me like her own daughter.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“I will always love you, your Grandma, your aunt Emilia and Uncle Matteo also love you as well.” You are our princess, we adore you a lot more anything in this world.
“You should get some sleep, Angelina”
She smiled sheepishly.
“Good night daddy”
“Good night,angel.”
I kissed her forehead before leaving her room.The smile wiped off my face the second I closed the door.
My study was exactly how I had left it.
Dark,Empty and Silent.
I walked to my desk and unlocked the bottom drawer.Inside lay some couple of photos, two young men stood shoulder to shoulder, their arms slung around each other after winning an underground boxing tournament.One was me,the other was Salvatore De Luca spotting the biggest lopsided grin.
We were barely eighteen.Young,Reckless.
Certainly we thought we could conquered the world. I traced my thumb across the faded picture.
Salvatore is a stubborn bastard.You were supposed to protect your family.A wave of guilt settled heavily on my chest.If I hadn’t been away negotiating a shipment of guns in Sicily.Maybe I’ll be able to help,maybe his parents would still be alive. A knock interrupted my thoughts.
Matteo entered without waiting for permission.
“We have got some problems”
I slipped the photos back into the drawer and locked the drawer.
“What is it?”
“We found one of the men involved in the attack of De Luca.”
I looked up and asked where’s the guy.
Matteo hesitated before speaking up again.
“He was found this morning.”
“Alive?”, I asked clinically.
“No.”
“Someone got him first.”, he continued.
Execution style,One bullet straight through his head.
This is done by a professional. Which meant that the people whoever ordered the m******e is closer than we thought.
“They’re covering their tracks very well.”
I picked up my gun from the desk.
My phone vibrated.
A message flashed across the screen.
Private Contact
If you think you’re powerful and she will escape death just by marrying you.You are in for a treat.
For the first time in years.
I’m f*****g excited. I smiled.
Because whoever sent that message had just confirmed my suspicion.
And I would tear apart anyone who tried to kill what was about to become mine.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD