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Turning around, I looked to Toby’s lifeless body slumped over the hood of my white Ranger…his blood splattered over the windshield…over me…staining my suit. No matter how badly you scrubbed or washed, blood never came out of white. I’d known him since I was child, he’d been in my bed, in me, and now the only permanent thing between was a ruined suit, because he, like Ethan, thought he could control me. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t my brother…so I couldn’t forgive him.
“No one controls me…but me.” Because I was Donatella Aviela Callahan, only daughter of Liam Alec Callahan, head of Irish mob, and Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan, head of the Italian mafia… I was a Callahan…and a Callahan was a bringer of death.
ONE
“She wears strength and darkness equally well, the girl has always been half goddess, half hell.”
~ Nikita Gill
DONATELLA – 30 DAYS AGO
“Has it been like this since Sunday?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Toby replied, stepping up behin
d me, blocking the sun with his body and casting a shadow over me. “The explosion came from the right side of the church; I don’t know if we should be thankful or not.”
“Not,” I replied angrily, stepping forward into the OS center, the facility my parents had built right in the heart of the city to honor their fathers, Orlando “Iron Hands” Giovanni and Sedric “The Butcher” Callahan. Two great men I’d never met, but grew up constantly reminded of. My mother rarely spoke of her father, but when I shipped off to boarding school in Italy, I’d heard stories of him. Those who did remember him spoke of him like he was the boogeyman. Some believed he wasn’t dead. That he was out there enjoying the mass fortune he’d “earned.”
My father on the other hand, couldn’t shut up about his father. Apparently, dear old grandfather hated his nickname so much, he forbade them to bring it up… I had no idea why, though, and it didn’t matter now. What did matter was their legacy. The edifice my parents had built in their honor was supposed to show how far our families had come. It wasn’t just a soup-kitchen or recreation center. It was reminder of their greatness, only the best of the best of the best went to it. First-class facilities, groceries, and even help with job search. Once a week, every week, we fed anyone who came through the door. The other six days it was open to the public to not only find work and train for better jobs, but for necessities like showers and haircuts. Even people who weren’t Irish or Italian came here… And now… Now it looked like a World War II Triage Center, all because of the Finnegan Brothers and their grunts had placed a bomb in our family church.
“Now I know why Ethan left for Boston so quickly, Tobias,” I said, walking down the corridor and looking at the sleeping mats that were all laid out. It’s easy to get revenge; the aftermath was the messy part.
“Why, ma’am?” He stood directly behind me, closer than I preferred in public.
I glanced over my shoulder at him, “Haven’t you realized my brother has only two facial expressions; Fear Me and Get the Fuck Out My Way, You Bore Me.”
He tried not to smirk, but I saw the corner of his lip turn up. And I couldn’t help but think that he was cute. His long, shoulder length dark-brown hair was pulled back into bun, his light brown eyes staring down at my lips.
“How many children?” I asked suddenly, turning from him and walking on.
“Twenty-nine,” he replied, following.
“And adults?”
“Fifteen.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” I muttered to myself. The bombs went off on the right side of the church, the side where most of the parents sat in order to be able to see their kids in the children’s choir.
“Before, Ethan had the center open to any children whose guardians couldn’t be reached—”
“How nice,” I replied sarcastically, “but this center isn’t an orphanage. Are social services here?”
“Yes, however…”
“I hate dramatic pauses, Tobias,” I said as we walked towards the silver double doors to the main cafeteria.
“Ethan spoke to the major… This is a family matter.”
“Ethan.” I gritted my teeth.
“He simply wants to prove to the people that he will—”
“You don’t need to explain my brother’s reasoning. I know what he wants. I just don’t agree. Since I’m here and Ethan is not, we’re doing this my way and they’re going to have to go.”
“Dona, they’re children—”
“It’s not up for debate. And even if it was, it wouldn’t be a debate with you. The door.” I waited, allowing him to go in front me. He pushed the door open and the moment I stepped through, I wanted turn around and walk back right out.
