Father’s eyes meet mine again, and as next in line as head of this family, I don't need to be told that the weight of the retaliation will be on my shoulders.His eyes say it all before his mouth says a word.“Ten fucking men, all dead, millions of dollars’ worth of product, and it's all fucking gone.The fucking Cassones.Vengeance will be the Roselli’s!”
The turf lines have been clear for quite some time, all the families staying within their boundaries for the last few years, but we heard the rumbling about the Cassones wanting more, approaching some of our suppliers in back rooms and alleys when they should have been happy with what they had.Now, they have started a war I’ll have to ensure they don’t win.
Damn my father for not listening.I warned him they were encroaching, that the backroom deals, conversations, and handshakes of yesteryear he thought so sacred were a thing of the past, and that today’s approach was anything if not cutthroat.
The regret burnishes in his eyes, but more than that, they sheen with a steely rage and determination to make it right.Right in his eyes, and complete devastation for the Cassones.He places his glass down with a thud.“This week, we mourn the loss of our dead.Next week, our enemies have an eldest daughter, and we’ll use her to make them pay.”
6
Sophia
My older sister turns slightly on a pair of gorgeous heels so she can admire the swath of white lace flowing onto the floor in the full-length mirror.My heart swells seeing her so pretty and so happy.“In two weeks, you are going to be the most gorgeous bride anyone has ever seen.I wish Mamma could see you today.She would be so very proud.”
Anna runs a hand down her belly.“If only Papa feels the same when he finds out his oldest daughter may be pregnant out of wedlock.His culture, he will be devastated.”
I put a finger to my lips.“If you are pregnant, Anna.The test came back negative.And if you are, no one but you can tell.Besides, the minute Papa finds out that you carry the next heir to the family, all his displeasure with you and Barcelo will go straight out the window.You’re getting married anyway.If you play your cards right, maybe the baby will come early, and no one will be the wiser?”
Anna smiles, her eyes shining with hope.
I hug her to me without crushing her beautiful gown.“Stop worrying.Now, repeat after me.I am marrying the man I love, we are going to be happy together, and we are bringing new life into the world.You should be the happiest woman in the world right now.”
Anna laughs and stems the flow of tears with a gentle finger placed right below her perfectly made up smoky dark eyes.She draws in a breath.“I’ll feel a whole lot better once the wedding is over, the families are merged, and Papa can stop worrying and let Barcelo and his family take over.Papa is getting too old to worry about legacies.He deserves some peace at his age.”
Now is not the time to hash out our differences about arranged marriages and our father making deals with the lives of those in the family to ensure future gains of territories.My big sister knows exactly how I feel about that.I gesture to her trailing train.“Hurry and put that tiny- waisted dress away before you get it dirty, or outgrow it before my very eyes,” I tease.
Anna’s eyes widen.“Two weeks.If I’m pregnant this baby could grow me right out of this dress in two weeks!Go,” she orders, “so I can put it away before Barcelo gets here, and can you please wear something other than those jeans?I swear there are more holes than material to hold them together.”
I laugh, closing the bedroom door behind me and making my way down the hall to my own room, thinking about the complexities of life as daughters of a notorious crime lord.Especially one with no sons, and how arranged marriages many times become the solution.
I brush out my hair in the mirror, pushing long dark, wispy layers away from my face before dotting my lips with a red tinted stain.Sorry Anna, this is as dressed up as I'm getting for dinner.Although I do slip my bare feet into a pair of Italian leather flats since her fiancée is invited, but only for her because aside from her, I couldn’t care less what people think.
Anna and I take care of each other.As long as Anna is happy, then I’m happy but still the idea of her and Barcelo doesn’t sit well.Maybe not all arranged marriages are bad, but it will be a cold day in hell before I would ever agree to one, no matter the cost.
What did it gain my mother but a head full of grey hair and an early grave?Sure, Papa loved her, that was clear to see, but the worry day in and day out that goes along with being a wife of someone in this life?No, one more year of college and my life will look completely different than being known as one of the pampered daughters or wives of a crime boss.
My brow furrows at the sound of loud voices coming from downstairs.Surely the lieutenants are not going at it again.So much tension around here now that everyone knows the Cassone family and the Gallini family will be uniting.
Why the capos and others in our employ act like it’s a huge surprise is beyond me.It happens all the time in families like ours.Why can’t they let my father enjoy his decision to hand off the reins with the wedding of my older sister.
I race down the stairs expecting to see the men we employ arguing amongst themselves again only to stop dead in my tracks halfway down the stairs.
A tall, dark-haired man in a black suit turns dark eyes on me as he hears me on the steps, causing my chest to beat with palpable angst.Massimo Roselli.
His dark eyes rake over my body as though he owns me, sending a shiver of instant self-preserving fear snaking along my spine.Anyone connected knows what the oldest son of the most notorious crime family in Jersey looks like.At least they should.If you see him coming, you should run the other way.
Yet I can't stop staring at the man from a week ago, the one who without a doubt in the world saved me from the hands of traffickers.My feet feel like lead, unable to move one in front of the other, as though frozen in time on the steps leading down to the great room of our home.Finally, I find my voice from my place on the stairs.“Why are you here?”I ask, almost hoarsely.
The intensity of his eyes gives nothing away, no recognition or the gentleness that I remember from that night.His gaze sweeps over me but not with interest the way I dreamt of since then, something different and intense even though his words imply something completely different.“Sophia Cassone, you’re even lovelier than I remember,” he drawls.
Somehow, today, knowing exactly who stands in front of me, the words sound ominous, even to me.And the fact that not one of our soldiers stands next to Papa guarding any of us leaves a sinking feeling of fear snaking through my very bones.The stance of the two men makes it clear.Massimo and my father are at war.
By the look on my father’s face, these two have already had it out about Massimo’s driver bringing me home from the club the other night.That has to be what’s going on.No matter that the enemy saved me from certain folly but me being brought home by one of his soldiers, pulling up to our gates in one of his cars was sure to get back to my father.I should have wakened Papa myself the minute I walked through that door, instead of leaving the soldiers to bring him up to speed with no explanation from me.
If the enemy knows what’s good for him, he’ll not continue to goad my father further.The look in Papa’s eyes says everything there is to say.Massimo Roselli should leave and do it quickly before a bloodbath that neither family wants starts right in the great room of our home, but I fear the Cassone temper has already caused my father to do something to bring that intense dark-eyed devil to our door.
I ignore Massimo’s obvious attempt to avoid my question, intent on one thing, getting him to vacate the estate for his good and for mine.An effort to keep the peace between the Cassones and the Rosellis that has the most fragile of existence in the underground.“Leave our home, you’re not welcome here.”
My father’s eyes widen in shock though.“Sophia!”
