M
My hand nervously gripped onto the strap of my duffel bag while I eyed the door in front of me. Lifting a hand up, I hesitated for just a second before knocking.
I waited and I waited until I heard the sound of a familiar voice speak up from behind the door. "Who is it?!"
It was quiet for a moment and I figured she was peeking into the peephole to take a look. It didn't take long before the door flung open to reveal Melissa standing with a confused expression on her face.
"I wasn't expecting you over.." her words soon died on her tongue once she took in my puffy gaze and sheepish smile. Her eyes flickered to the duffle bag I had over my shoulder before she met my stare again. "Spill everything."
Before I knew it, I was seated in Melissa's apartment with a cup of tea in hand, ready to tell Melissa everything that had occurred in the past hour and a half.
She listened to me without interrupting once, instead choosing to take hold of my free hand which she squeezed reassuringly when my voice trembled and my fears resurfaced.
"I don't know what to do?!" I huffed, leaning back into the couch after I finished explaining my situation. "I mean I can't run away, I can barely even hide. I don't even feel safe in my own apartment anymore—" I shook my head.
Melissa pursed her lips together, flashing me a sympathetic smile while still holding onto my free hand reassuringly. "You have to tell Damien, or even Roberto or one of their men." She spoke up. "That's the only way to guarantee your safety since you can't flee."
"The thought has crossed my mind but what good would it really do?! I mean, they already know that the police have been harassing me and they even had men watch over my apartment but those cops still got to me?! I don't feel protected, I don't feel safe.." I sighed. "Telling Damien would do me no good right now. It's not like he can take care of the cops like he does other people—" my words quickly died on my tongue.
"What do you mean by that?" Melissa's eyebrows furrowed as she put two and two together.
"You know what I mean. What he does for a living is pretty self-explanatory." I tried to brush it off but Melissa had already caught on.
"No, no, that's not it. You said it like you know something and that's probably why those police officers are chasing you around town. That's the reason." She stated. "You know you can tell me?"
"It's nothing Melli-"
My hand suddenly felt cold once Melissa reeled hers away from mine. "Mina." She deadpanned, keen on getting the truth out of me but I was reluctant.
"Melissa, it's nothing."
"It's nothing?!" She parroted in disbelief. She rose to her feet now, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked down at me before she threw her hands up expressively. "If it was nothing like you say it is, you wouldn't be here with a duffel bag packed to stay the night. This is far from nothing and I know you know something. Why can't you just open up to me?! I'm here to listen, Mina?!" She huffed, moving to now stand in front of me where she later squatted down to my height.
"I can't." My words were a feeble whisper.
"You can't or you won't?!"
"If I could tell you, I would've told you the second it happened." I sighed. "This isn't easy for me, Melissa!"
"The second what happened, hmm?!" She questioned, rising back up to her feet. "It sounds like you saw something you weren't supposed to see."
"Melissa, can you stop? Just stop, I can't tell you?! I just can't. Believe me when I say I wanted to—I wanted to tell you and Cori but I was scared, hell I still am, if not more scared now than I was before."
She was quiet for a moment, unmoving as she stared down at me before she released a sigh. "What? You don't trust me. You think I'm going to run to the police and tell them what I know?!" She waved her hands around expressively again. I watched as she moved away to circle around the couch I was seated on.
"Don't be like that Mel?! Of course I trust you." I angled my body to watch her go, resting my hands on the arm of the couch.
"Be like what?" I heard her say as she retreated to her kitchen. "You're the one who's keeping secrets."
"It's not my secret to tell?!" I stood up now, following after her. With her back turned to me, she stood by the sink, staring out the window. "Telling you would just put you in danger—"
She let out a wry laugh, her hands falling to grip the edge of the counter while she continued to take in the outside world.
"You think you being here hasn't put me in danger?!" She threw back and I felt a pang in my chest knowing she was right. "If they're watching you like you say they are then they know that you're here. Isn't that putting me in danger?! I don't want to make you feel like shit for asking for help. I'll go down with you any day and I'll stick beside you always but I can't help you if I don't know the truth, Mina?!"
She finally turned around to face me and I took in her serious expression which softened once her eyes settled on me. "I can't help you if I don't know what you got yourself involved in. So tell me something, tell me anything, tell me what happened?!"
I wanted to blurt it all out. I wanted to tell her about the night I saw Damien murder Paolo and how everything went downhill from there but I couldn't. I couldn't tell her—I couldn't have her involved any further.
"I can't Mel—"
"Fine then." She scoffed, shaking her head before manoeuvring past me.
"Melissa, you have to understand why I can't tell you, don't be like that please?!" I frowned, reaching out for her but she just brushed me off.
"I'll get your bed ready for tonight. You can stay as long as you like." She ignored me, making her way down to her room where she closed the door behind her with a slam.
D
"Ah Damien, I see you've been released. It's good to see you again, my boy." My grandfather spoke up as I made my presence known in the parlour.
He wasn't alone. My father's caporegimes sat adjacent to him on both sides. I greeted them accordingly before moving to the cabinets for a drink.
"I see your meeting with your father went well." The sarcasm dripped from his voice coupled with a light chuckle as he watched me pour myself a drink.
"It went great." I replied, taking a quick sip before turning to face him with a deadpan expression which soon crumbled into a small smile. "He just needs time to cool off. Doubt he'll be joining us for lunch." I moved to take a seat beside my grandfather.
He readjusted his cane by his side, angling his body to look at me. "Your father has always been the type to sulk in silence and at a distance. In time he will get over it.." my grandfather paused looking down in thought.
Momentarily he pursed his lips together, later turning to face me once again to add. "Your father and I don't see eye to eye on many things but in this situation he is right to be frustrated with your actions as of late."
"Three dead in less than a month or so—all those deaths connecting back to the Famiglia. It wasn't a wise move and I'm sure you know that. Your reasons may be valid to a degree but that's what meetings are held for—to discuss those same reasons and find solutions that'll help us avoid situations like these. Had you told your father about Fabio's disrespect and that club incident, I'm sure there would've been a better way of handling it." My grandfather continued and I listened without interrupting. "Instead you took things into your own hands and as a capo who is not yet Don you made a mistake."
"I understand." I replied.
"Do you, my boy?" He returned with a firm look but a gentleness remained in his eyes.
"I do." I said earning a low hum in response. "I understand that my actions have caused trouble for the Famiglia and brought more attention onto our family, I take responsibility for that but—"
My grandfather raised his hand to silence me. "But nothing. You've now taken your responsibility in this matter, there is no need to dwell on the past now. I'll be sure to remind your father of that. For now we move forward."
I pursed my lips together, knowing at that moment I couldn't exactly argue back. He was right.
The sound of heels clicking in the distance could be heard drawing closer to the parlour. Soon, my mother made her presence known as she peered into the parlour to greet us.
"I see your father has let you go. Lunch is ready in the dining hall."
After guiding my grandfather to the smaller dining hall, it didn't take long for the three of us to settle in. My brother and my father's absence was acknowledged by my mother but she didn't say a word, content for now that Vito and I were here.
I ate in silence for the most part, contributing to my grandfather and my mother's simple conversation when I felt I needed to.
I allowed my thoughts to drift, finally settling on the thought of Mina. I wondered if she was okay and I hoped to at least be able to talk things out with her sometime today. But like Roberto said, I doubt she'd want to talk right now considering the situation.
What she wants is more important but so is her safety. I felt obligated to keep her protected considering this whole ordeal was my fault. For now I'll watch from a distance, finding it best to give Mina some space.
Still, I missed her presence—her warm smile and equally contagious laugh. All I could remember now is the look of fear embedded in her eyes after she saw me being arrested and it seemed to cloud every other memory I had of her then.
"You've been very quiet." My mother chimed, drawing me from my reverie.
"I have a lot on my mind." I replied, setting down my fork as I met my mother's gaze.
With an all knowing motherly look, she parted her lips to add, "You're thinking of that woman, aren't you?" I hummed a response in agreement. "I'm sure she's alright. I mean you have men watching her, yes?"
"I do. She'll be safe for now."
"Still you worry." My mother said, "You think your arrest has ruined your chances in pursuing her. I would be lying if I said it didn't and I would not blame her if she wishes to keep her distance. It's to be expected when you live the life that you live." She continued.
"Just know that if it's meant to be, it will be." She uttered firmly, the same motherly look still gleaming in her dark eyes. "But onto other things, we cannot sulk all day. Your birthday is coming up, Damien." I had to stop myself from letting out an annoyed huff, knowing where my mother was going with the conversation.
"We're still in October. It's another month away Ma."
She raised an eyebrow daring me to protest. "Which is plenty of time to prepare. I have to gather the guest list and discuss the party theme, you only turn 25 once—might as well make it memorable." My mother shrugged after taking a sip of her wine. "Not to mention your cousins will be around considering Christmas is two months away."
"Who's coming?" I asked. My mother probably invited the whole of Palermo, Sicily over for this bash—it was just her thing. If my mother loved anything more than the jewels she donned, it was parties and hosting them were her specialty.
"Well my sisters Juliet and Mariana will be coming, though I doubt their children will be visiting us. Your father's sister Una will also be making an appearance. Speaking of your aunt Una—you know your cousin Louis, her son—he's out of prison apparently. Una is very pleased with that so it'll be quite the celebration."
I grimaced at the mention of my cousin before fixing my expression, seeing my mother's disapproval. "Don't give me that look." She chided. "He's your older cousin and he's a good man."
"It's cousin Louis Ma, good and Louis can't be put in the same sentence. Remember the summer we visited Pa's other sister, Aunt Alessia and Louis was there. He tried to drown me in her pool—"
"It was just a push. Don't be dramatic." My mother shook her head, waving me off.
"A push..into her pool, Ma. The deep end—we were nine."
She parted her lips to find a defence but none came to mind, instead she settled with a brief shrug, saying, "It was a long time ago and I'm sure he's changed now. Let's not dwell on the past."
"Right.." I drawled sarcastically. "A man who's been in prison the last five years has changed drastically.." my mother only scowled over at me, tutting to herself upon hearing my words.
"And you're no better." She retorted, hinting back at the fact that I too was just released. I could only let her have the last word at that moment, knowing it was pointless to argue my point.
"My dear Una." Vito chimed in with a small smile. "It's been a while since I've seen my daughter and my grandson Louis. They finally let him out of that damned cell. It's good news!" He mumbled to himself.
"If only they'd call a bit more, same with the rest of them." He hinted at the rest of his children. "Still, I have hope that many will visit for the holidays."
"They will." My mother assured him before turning her attention to me. "Maybe you could invite that girl, Damien. I never caught her name, what was it again?"
"Mina." I replied and she hummed lowly in response.
"Pretty name, rings nicely with Moretti." Her lips tugged upwards as she fought a smile into her wine glass.
"Ma.."
"Wishful thinking." She added, turning her attention to one of the maids who entered. With a wave of her hand, she ordered the maid to clear our plates as we finished our meals.
"Where is Roberto?" My grandfather asked after mine and my mother's conversation ended.
I set my drink down, looking at him as I parted my lips to respond. "He's with father. He wanted to talk to him about something, I'm not too sure what it is but it's business related-" I explained but my words soon died on my tongue once I caught sight of my mother's face.
Business was never to be discussed at the dinner table.
Her request of course.
It didn't take long before Roberto showed up afterwards. He didn't look pleased one bit as he made a beeline straight for the liquor which laid idle on the table.
"It's a bad habit to drown in your sorrows, my boy." My grandfather spoke up, watching Roberto pour himself a drink. Roberto didn't respond as he drank, not wasting any time pouring himself a second glass.
"Looks like I'm driving then." I spoke up, moving to approach him. I knew his mood had turned foul following his meeting with our father and it would only worsen if he kept drinking.
"That would be a wise choice." My grandfather stated. He rose from his chair, taking his cane in hand before walking towards my mother who met him halfway. "Yvonne, that walk through the gardens you promised me, is the offer still on the table." He asked.
My mother looked like she wanted to leave their walk until later but my grandfather gave her a look that hinted to leave both Roberto and I to talk alone.
"Of course." She replied. "There's some lovely roses I have to show you.." her words died out as the two left the dining hall, leaving Roberto and I alone.
"The meeting went well then." I sarcastically said and Roberto let out a wry laugh.
"If by well you mean me getting shit on for your mistakes, then yeah, it went great." He replied. "He thinks I've been influencing you by clouding your mind with poor judgement, crazy right?!" He poured himself another drink and I watched as he callously took a shot.
"I mean it was your idea to take out Paolo and he didn't seem to mind that but when I take care of Fabio on your given orders, it's a problem."
"You're not to blame. You and I both know that—he's just taking his anger out on you. It's not fair, of course but what can you do."
Roberto released a low scoff. "Yeah, he is but then again when isn't he, right? Old fucking bastard." He tsked lowly, preparing to pour himself another glass when I stopped him.
"That's enough. You need a clear mind for the rest of the day—"
"My mind is clear." He retorted.
"Yeah, that's what you say and then in a few hours you'll be struggling to piss standing up with how drunk you'll be. Give me that." I yanked the bottle from his hand before he could protest.
"You always rain on my parade." He scowled. "Can't let a man enjoy a drink in peace."
"One drink is fine, the entire bottle is different. Would you prefer Pa instead of me knocking some sense into you?" He grimaced at the notion. "That's what I thought." Setting the drink down on the table, I pushed it to the end making sure to keep it at a distance from my brother.
"So, what else did he say? I hear you have a mission. Hopefully you won't fuck up like I did." I said, recalling my father's words.
"It's nothing." Roberto shrugged off. "Just some stupid task—wants me to take care of some things."
"Things.." I trailed off with an eyebrow raised. "What things? Shipments? People? There's a lot to cover."
"It's none of your business, Damien. I'll take care of it."
"Of course it's my business, don't be like that." I laughed. "Cmon, I can help. That way we'll both be in his good graces—" I playfully shoved him.
"I don't need your help. It's fine. I mean can you imagine the shit I'd be in if he found out you were helping me? I don't need another lecture about how incompetent I am and how great you are." Roberto said with a scowl.
"I'll take care of it by myself." He brushed me off, moving around me to step out of the dining hall but I blocked him.
"You're not incompetent, Roberto." I frowned. "You're far from that. You've saved my ass plenty of times and I don't think someone considered incapable can do that. You're better than that, regardless of what Pa says. He's just being an asshole."
"Yeah, whatever." He muttered to himself.
"I'm being serious." I said firmly.
"I heard you."
I pursed my lips together, eyeing my brother closely. It was obvious that our father's words were getting to him and he was becoming more and more irritable. "Do what you have to do. Just know I'm here if you need help." I reminded him, meeting his gaze.
"Yeah, yeah." He turned away from me. "Enough of the sappy shit, you're going soft on me. Let's not waste anymore time, hmm? We should check the guards on watch duty. So let's go." He changed the subject, not wanting to discuss matters any further and though I didn't blame him, I couldn't help but to worry.
I didn't get the chance to protest before he slipped past me.
"She hasn't come out of the apartment all day." Ragi said as he helped Roberto to light his cigarette. "After me and Mario walked her home after her shift, she's been inside."
"She's looked out the window a couple of times but that was hours ago. Haven't seen her since then." Mario chimed in as he remained leaned against the car with his arms crossed. "Angelo just came down too. He's at the back entrance of the apartment keeping watch with Sergio."
"When did they get here?" I asked.
Both Mario and Ragi looked at each other. Ragi shrugged his shoulders, waving his hand to gesture a rough guess. "Maybe an hour or two after we walked her home. They've been on guard since then but Sergio will be leaving soon—he'll swap with Matthias since he's back in town."
"He's back already?!" Roberto spoke up. "It's been what? Almost six months since he left for New York on that mission, right?" He exhaled to the side before taking another slow drag after speaking.
"Yeah, he had to help one of the other mob families that we have connections to." I replied. "We'll catch up with him tomorrow at the meeting. I'm sure he has some intel for us."
"That damned meeting." Roberto scoffed, kicking a few rocks at his feet. "It'll take all fucking day knowing how pa is. I'll be old and grey by the time it ends." Ragi and Mario chuckled at his words and I cracked a light grin knowing he was right.
We had a lot to talk about and I knew tomorrow would be the perfect time to discuss a plan in relation to dealing with Vincenzo as well as the police.
"We'll be on watch duty while you guys have fun." Ragi teased making Roberto roll his eyes playfully.
"Don't be too happy. I might drag you along with me and get a recruit to take over your job." Roberto said with a smirk. He took one last inhale of his cigarette before he flicked it to the ground. "Can't have you guys missing out on all the fun."
"Yeah, yeah sure." Mario waved him off as Roberto crushed the cigarette under the heel of his foot.
"At least you'll finally get the chance to tell pa all about your plan with the cops. Maybe the caporegimes will agree with it—I already know the others will and if all goes well, you'll get the chance to see Mina afterwards." My brother added.
It would be difficult to sway my father considering he had no consigliere. His consigliere was unfortunately one of the many casualties during the war we had five years ago and things have changed since then.
There were only four caporegimes, three being my elders and the final one being myself as I was soon to be made Don. The approval of the other capos was necessary in the final process of decision making, however my father's approval was paramount.
"Why can't you just visit her now? You're already outside her apartment." Ragi spoke up.
Mario shook his head, adding, "You really think she'd want to see him this soon after what she saw? She'd slam the door in his face. Boss here knows that and he knows it's best to give her some space—maybe a day or two. The least he can do now is try to call her, but that's just me."
They turned to me, waiting for me to chime in. "You did call her right?" Roberto asked and I shook my head.
"Didn't have the time to but I did send her a text. She hasn't responded." I replied. Regardless if she responded or not, a text wouldn't compare to hearing her voice instead.
My gaze shifted from my group to Mina's apartment. A part of me felt unsettled as I stared up at her closed window but I wasn't sure why. I wanted to see her face pop out of the window, to see her smile as she looked down at me from above, to hear her laugh when I would say something cheeky.
But all I saw was a closed curtained window.
I didn't like it.
"She'll come around, just give her some time." Roberto patted my back, pulling me from my thoughts. The others hummed in agreement. "Let's go, we have to catch you up on the things you've missed."