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Giovanni

PLAYLIST: ? SURE FIRE - JOHN LEGEND ?

Ihadmy life planned from the moment I was a young boy. When your father is Don of one of the most prominent Mafia families in the country, you’re groomed from birth to desire following in his footsteps.

Other children sat down to Saturday-morning cartoons and doodled silly pictures of dogs and flowers for fun. My idea of fun, even before I could understand the gravity of life and death, was to shadow Pa in his business operations.

Of course, he limited my exposure to a degree—I couldn’t sit in on his meetings, or ask too many questions—but I was allowed to drink him in in all his terrifying glory from time to time. Even my fuzzy childhood memories can’t block out the visceral moments that made huge impacts on me and my psyche.

My father with his cigar in his mouth and his drink in hand, gold pinky ring glinting in the light of his office. He’d kick his legs up and sit like a fucking King, puffing smoke and emanating pure dominance. His men cowered in his presence. The staff did too, Carlotta herself included.

I watched on in marvel, bored with my toy cars and Lego blocks, and fantasized about the day far in the future where it’d be me—I’d be the King seated at the throne, endless power at my fingertips.

I spent the next thirty years of my life dedicating almost every waking moment to this achievement. Any feeling I squashed, learning how to imitate my father’s cool emotionlessness. How to mimic his coldhearted demeanor and ruthless, violent ways. Soon, much like him, the only things I felt were rage and anger, and an unending hunger for more power.

Pa tested me along the way. He treated me like any other soldier in his command. He pit me and my twin brother Giancarlo against each other, forcing me to prove myself. When I dominated Vegas within months, I solidified my place as his rightful heir. I was the son who would ascend the throne and become King, entrusted to carry on the Sorrentino legacy.

Finally.

For a time, I had it all—the criminal kingdom I’d worked all my life for, and the bright, beautiful woman who had become my heart. Nothing could stop me.

I was King.

But no man can handle the weight of the crown forever, as it grows heavier and more burdensome with time. I let my position rule me rather than rule from my position on the throne, so unstoppably obsessed with conquering and destroying whatever stood in my path, I lost my way. I made the biggest mistake of my life and ruined the one pure thing in my life.

A mistake I will never make again.

The future’s hopeful, our chance to begin anew.

I’m a man determined to learn from the past and do better. Still a King, but no longer obsessed and driven by power and control. I have no desire to return to the dark times where I became the man my father was, like a monster in the flesh.

I’ll rule my kingdom, but I’ll do so from afar. Our organization won’t grow at the exponential pace it once did. We’ll likely lose some of our claim over the criminal world. Another family might even rise up the wickets to take the Sorrentinos’ number-one spot, butcosí é la vita—such is life.

My days will be spent with my Queen on our beautiful secluded seafront kingdom, where we will be safe and happy, but most importantly, together. Maybe one day where we’ll finally raise a family of our own.

And if it never happens for us, that’s okay too. We’re all we need.Falynnis all I could ever ask for.

“Are you coming in?” she asks from the glass doors leading onto the balcony. She’s wearing a sexy, satiny night dress that clings to her gorgeous golden-brown skin and stops at those distracting, soft thighs of hers.

My beautiful, sexy, brilliant wife. All to myself for however long we live.

A sideways grin inches onto my face as I motion with my index finger for her to come. She smirks back at me and glides over, her dark curls springing in the night’s light wind. I slip my arms around her hips and bring her close.

“Look at the moon,” I say.

She hums and admires how it hangs so full and silver in the sky, miles above the vast sea surrounding us. “It’s beautiful. I’ll never get tired of this view. But I know you were out here thinking.”

“That might be true.”

“Are you happy?” she asks. She shifts in my arms, enough so she can peek over her shoulder at me. “Do you regret giving it up—coming here and not ruling like before, so hands-on?”

“Vic is my avatar. He will rule as I have instructed,” I answer. “I will still control what goes on…but I don’t need to day-to-day. No, Honey, I don’t regret choosing for things to be this way. I’m happier for it. Aren’t you?”

She nods, swaying in my grasp, her head at rest against my shoulder. “It feels good. Us being away from it all.”

“Onourterms.”

It’s true. Though our new lives on the secluded island I’ve purchased for us is private, we dictate to what extent. We’re free to do whatever, go wherever, and exist as we want. So far, we’ve spent most of our days on our large estate, but when the mood strikes us, we venture out, my protective wall of security providing cover, and we check into the outside world again.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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