“Can I ask who’s calling?” She sounds confused, probably used to dealing with my father.
“Arianna Bianchi, Donna, Arianna Bianchi.”
There’s a pause, a dawning of recognition before she replies. “Yes, ma’am, and how many will you be needing on the crew?”
What she’s really asking me is how many bodies. I look around and smile to myself. I’ve had a busy day, but I’m sure this will only be the beginning. “Eight.”
“We’ll be with you in thirty minutes. Ma’am, will the billing details need to be amended?”
“No, thank you. Everything is being transferred into my name. Account details remain the same.” I walk over and hang up the phone. “Luca, Matteo, wait for them to come and escort them in. I’ll be in my office.”
Iturn and walk surely to my father’s office and click the door shut. I rest my back against it, tilt my head back, and close my eyes. Taking in a breath, I try not to puke from the excess adrenaline that’s rushing through my veins, my hands shaking as the blood careens through me, making me almost light-headed. It feels like a drug, like I’m floating.
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t any form of regret or panic over what I’ve achieved. No, this right here is my body realising that this is who I was meant to be all along, authenticity seeping out through my pores and the realisation that I can be the real me, no holds barred, ruthless, callous, calculated, but most of all unstoppable.
I allow myself a minute to steady my racing heart before opening my eyes with all the fire and determination I’m going to need from now on. I need to assert myself in this role, and first, I need to turn all the accounts over to me to access my father’s money. I slide into his stupid, oversized, creaky leather chair and fire up his computer.
Unbeknownst to my father, I’ve been able to forge his signature for years. I’m on all his accounts — a silent, invisible partner, if you will. The bastard never even noticed all the money I was stealing, in case I couldn’t do this as easily as I wanted. This part of the plan is simple, though.
A few clicks of the buttons and I have access to everything. A few more clicks, and my father is removed from them all and listed as deceased. It fills me with great satisfaction to enter that single word. And all the passwords are changed. I pull up all my employee information and delete those who are no longer in my employment.
Consider them fired.I chuckle to myself and scoff at the pittance my father pays these people. I immediately increase their salaries and transfer one thousand euros directly into their accounts. Let’s call it an incentive.
I click a few more tabs open and transfer all the deeds to the houses, businesses, and cars into my name. I now own it all. I smile as I thank my tutor, George, for teaching me all these useful skills and setting it all up. I transfer him the money I promised him once I took over, and grin to myself at the look that will be on his face when he realises I’ve achieved it.
Now I just have to make sure I keep up with momentum. Once I’ve taken over everything on paper, I give myself a minute, a reset, steadying the heady vibrations running through me to relish in everything I’ve accomplished today. Without wanting to appear overconfident just yet—I know I have a long way to go.
There’s a small tap on the door. “Come in.”
Marianne’s head pops into the room, and she quickly steps in, grinning from ear to ear. She rushes around the desk and throws herself into my arms as I stand to meet her. She grips me tightly against her. She lets out a few stuttered breaths before pulling back from me.
“Let me look at you.” She cups my face, reaching into her pocket; she takes out a handkerchief and licks it to dab at my face. I bat her off with a smile. “Sorry, force of habit,” she chuckles. “Won’t happen again.”
I nod and give her a tight smile. It’s not that I don’t appreciate her, but I can’t have people see how close we are. I will not let them hurt her to get to me. She’s the only person in this world I love, the only one I wholeheartedlytrust. And from now on, I’ll have to keep her at a distance to keep her safe.
“I have three months to turn it all around. If I fail, the other families will eradicate me from existence.”
“Then let’s make sure you don’t fail.” She takes a step back from me and smooths down her apron. The gun is still stuffed into the front pocket, and she smiles. “First, you need to clean up.”
I scowl down at myself, seeing the blood splatter across my blouse.Fuckers ruined it.I frown at her and nod. “I’ll go shower. Set the table for us all. I will not eat alone. And I want to keep them close. I don’t trust anyone until they’ve proved themselves to me.”
Marianne nods and turns to leave.
“Marianne”—she spins to look at me, confusion across her face—“be careful what you say and to whom. You need to stay away from me in any other capacity other than the housekeeper.” Hurt rolls across her face, but I step forward.
I reach up and cup her face. “You’re too important to me. I can’t have anyone know that. They will see you as a weakness. You’re my only weakness. I will not put you in danger.”
She nods. I know she understands; we’ve discussed this at length. I can’t lose her. She’s all I have. If that means holding the only person I love at arm’s length for her own safety, then so be it.
After showering, scrubbing, scraping, and picking every last drop of blood, gore, and brain matter from my hair and body, I dress simply, my damp hair pulled into a plait across my shoulder, then head down to the dining room.
When I enter, they’re all sitting, waiting. The tension fills the room. An uncertainty. An unsettled feeling that comes with the unknown. I sit down to eat. There’s an uncomfortable silence that hangs above me, but I want to look these people in the eye. I want to see their intentions on their faces, and the best way to do that is to break bread, so to speak, to share a meal.
Marianne pulls up a seat at the other end of the table. I watch every nervous glance, every shake of the hand as it vibrates out across the table to scoop more potatoes, every bob of their throat as they take a drink of their water. I watch it all. Right now, I don’t trust any of them, but in reality, they’re all I have. So I need to play nice and try not to kill any more of them.
Vittorio
Chapter Two
