35
Charlie
From the shadows of the alleyway, a fragile older woman appears. She looks just like me. My heart skips a beat while I stare at my mother; Caterina. The woman Luciano told me was gone. So how is it possible that she’s standing before my eyes? Beside her, Vince’s soldier shoves her forward roughly, each step forced. Tears pool in her eyes as they glisten with pain.
“My baby, Charlotte,” she sobs, her voice trembling with a sorrow that twists my gut. She takes a step forward and reaches her arms out like she wants to touch me to make sure I’m real, but Vince tugs on the chains at her wrists, pulling her back to his side.
“What the fuck?” the words escape me, disbelief crashing over like a hurricane. This woman is a mirror of me, yet she doesn’t carry the fire and ruthlessness from the stories everyone has told me. She appears to be shattered, broken in ways I can barely comprehend. My heart aches for her. What did they do to her? How long has she been with Vince?
I spin on Luciano, my voice shaking with rage and betrayal. “Did you know… she was alive?”
His piercing blue eyes meet mine, cold and guilt-filled. His silence cuts deep, confirming he knew all along. Doubt starts to gnaw at meabout the brothers I began to trust, about my own loyalty, and most painfully, about Luciano. How could he do this to me? How could he be this merciless?
A cruel chuckle breaks the tension. Vince. The brothers have now emerged from their places, their faces etched with helplessness and uncertainty, unsure what they should do or how to help Caterina. My mother.
My eyes snap to Vince. “What have you done to her?”
His grin is vile as he grabs my mother by the chin, yanking her face toward him. “I found her,” he sneers, squeezing her jaw to make her look at him. “I was in Dallas for business when I saw her wandering the streets. She looked so lost, barely recognized me."
Caterina acts stiff, lifeless in his grip. She has become a shadow of the woman she used to be. Her obedience to him sends a chill down my spine. He leans down, pressing a forceful kiss to her lips. My stomach twists watching his cruelty.
“Release her to me, now,” I tell him.
“No.” He pushes her down like a rag doll. She sits at his feet obediently while Vince undoes his pants, pulling out his dick and starts pissing on her. I’m frozen on the spot. I can hear the rumbles coming from Luciano and the brothers, but I raise my hand in the air to signal for them and our soldiers to stand down. The horror of what she must have endured churns my insides. She pleads softly, voice breaking, but Vince’s response is cruel. A vicious knee to her face sends her sprawling.
I glance around the docks. Vince’s soldiers laugh, while my soldiers recoil in disgust, shifting uneasily. “What do you want? My turf? Take it. Just release my mother,” I say.
“Like I said, it’s not yours to give,” Vince says. “I made her my wife.”
The weight of the truth crashes over me. If she’s his wife, then by law, the estate and everything we have would half belong to him, not me.
I’m dragged out of my thoughts by bullets erupting around us, chaos now unleashed.
“Stop!” I scream, desperately waving my hands out at our soldiers. “Don’t shoot, you might hit Caterina!”
Stefano grabs me around the waist, pulling me back, but I claw at him, begging him to let me go. Tears stream down my face as I watch from the sidelines, helpless. “We need you safe, Charlie,” he urges.
“She’s my only family. She’s my mother!” I cry out.
“We are your family too,” he replies, but I can’t risk it. I may not personally know this woman, but she is my mother, my blood. I’ve already lost my father, and if there’s a chance I can get my mother back, then I will. I let the anger build up in me and use the training movements Carlo has taught me and break free, leaving Stefano stunned.
“Charlie!” he yells as I run back into the midst of the chaos.
Out the corner of my eye, I spot Vince dragging my mother down the alleyway she came from, her body barely moving, her knees scraping the ground. Her eyes find mine from across the yard. “Mother!” I scream, pulling my gun out of the back of my pants, running after them.
“Follow her!” Luciano commands. Mattia and Rocco bolt after me. I round the corner to see Caterina on her knees in front of Vince, his gun pressed to her temple. I freeze, my heart shattering instantly. I have a feeling what’s about to happen.
“Please,” I beg, my voice full of emotion. “She is all I have left.”
“Drop the guns,” Vince commands, grinning with sadistic satisfaction. I instantly drop my gun to the ground, kicking it away from me,anything to prove that I will obey. I just want my mother. I just want to get to know her.
Vince looks over to Rocco and Mattia. “Drop the guns,” he says again, but they hesitate.
“Do it,” I order, and they finally obey.
Terror roots me in place as I watch Vince. “The Cosa Nostra will be mine,” he declares, pulling the trigger.
“NOOO!” I scream as Caterina collapses before me.
