My hand clenches on my phone. Finally go after Giovanni? I almost pass out from the thought. “That’s good, Leo. You did good. Keep an eye on things. We’ll come up with a plan to attack him.”
“And then we can say good fucking riddance to the motherfucker.”
I hang up before Leo can hear any weakness in my voice. Knowing I’m getting close to Giovanni hits me like a truck and I clamp my hand to my chest to keep the anxiety at bay.
The memory of my mom reaching her hand out to me as she laid on the ground, covered in blood, haunts me to this day. The baby she had in her stomach cut out of her. My father with a gunshot to his brain.
And me, a little boy who didn’t know what the mafia was yet. Who didn’t know my father was one of them.
It’s why Giovanni went after my family. To gain power.
I remember hiding underneath the bed and watching it all happen. Giovanni never found me after that. I ran and hid but I knew my destiny them was to become a mafia boss like my father and take revenge.
I became an apprentice to Giovanni himself. Until I gained enough power to become my own boss. That pissed him off and he gave me my scar.
I’ve built power over the years and yet, I still remain stuck inside this mansion. The same place my parents were murdered. I will get my revenge on Giovanni one day and it seems like it’s coming sooner rather than later. He’s been in hiding for years now.
But a rat always comes up from the underground.
I can feel the panic seep in as the memories hit me. The screams of my mother. The way she cried when Giovanni himself cut her pregnant stomach.
The way she screamed at me to hide. I have never been able to forget it.
I slump against the wall, trying to catch my breath. If anyone were to see me like this, I would fall into ruin. The powerful mafia man, Gabriel Romano, cannot show any weakness. Nothing.
Yet, I can’t stop my panic attack from happening. It comes and goes whenever I least expect it. I can’t breathe and yet, I know I’m not dying. It just feels like it.
Get rid of the memories, I tell myself. Get them out and then the panic will go away.
I hear a gasp that makes me look up. Aurora is standing in the hallway, staring at me, wearing her wedding gown still. Her eyes widen when she takes me in. My state of panic. The way I’m slumped against the wall. The way I can’t stop holding my chest as if that will make the memories go away.
“What are you doing?” I growl. “Stop looking at me!”
She flinches and turns her back to me, cowering.
“Just go!” I yell. “I didn’t give you permission to look at me. Just go!”
Aurora runs away. Her high heels clack on the hardwood and the sound gets smaller and smaller.
I sink down to the ground, catching my breath. The last thing I want is for Aurora to see me like this. I have to be in control. I want to control every part of her life. I need it.
Because lord knows I have no control over Giovanni. No control over losing my entire family.
No one can see me as weak. I would rather die than let that happen.
Aurora
I run into my bedroom, breathing heavy. Never have I heard Gabriel yell at me like that before. Never have I seen the panic in his eyes.
He didn’t want me to see him like that. I wasn’t supposed to see him like that.
So what caused him to end up like that?
I pace around my room, catching my breath and fighting back tears. I had come back inside from the garden and saw him leaning against the wall, almost like he was having apanic attack. But surely a man like him wouldn’t have those. Not one who’s so in control all the time.
None of it makes any sense. Gabriel is proving himself more of an enigma with every day that passes.
But one thing is clear: he has a weakness. And that gives me power over him.
