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"Right?" I crow, before redirecting my attention toward Aurora. "So, when are the two of you getting on and doing something about it?"
"Somehow I don’t think that’s a good idea, considering I am still the captive of the Mafia."
"Some captive," Cassandra says with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "From what I’ve seen, you are getting the royal treatment. You have Christian hovering around you. Any excuse he has to come see you, he takes it. If ever there is a need for a doctor, and given these Mafia guys are constantly involved in some scrap or the other, there is a need a lot of times… Guess who volunteers to go get you?"
"Suppose there’s something to be said for having a doctor in the house huh?"
"I'm sure it’s very convenient for them," Aurora huffs. "Guess it suits them to have me locked up in here."
"You don’t seem to be too put out by it, you know?" I observe.
"What am I going to do, protest?" She scoffs, "Like that will do any good. At least, I know that my family is taken care of."
"How can you be sure of that?"
"It’s an unspoken promise among the Cosa Nostra," Cassandra explains. "If one of us is injured or dies in the line of duty, so to speak, then the family is taken care of."
"Huh," I blink, "I didn’t know that."
"The Cosa Nostra takes care of their own," Aurora says in a soft tone.
"Their influence within the city and the community is all pervasive. They are linked into the police, the judiciary, and with the heads of Fortune 500 companies." Cassandra begins to pace the room she is in. "And of course, they rule the underworld. It’s why, if you have a problem with anything, you go to them."
"With anything?" I frown. "What do you mean, anything?"
"Meaning,anything." Cassandra raises a shoulder, "If you have a problem with your husband cheating on you, you go to the Cosa Nostra. If you have a problem with your business being in debt, you go to them. If you have a problem with the plumbing in your house, you go to them. Hell, if you have a problem with dog shit littering your street, you go to—"
"—them," I finish her statement. "Though I don’t understand why. I mean, it seems so archaic. Like you guys live in some kind of feudal country."
"We do, for all intents and purposes." She laughs. "Remember, this is the country whose prime minister, at one point, owned the biggest media company in the country, effectively controlling the media itself, and who was responsible for some of the worst scandals we have seen."
"And the only organization who could stand up to him was—"
"—the Cosa Nostra?"
She nods.
"Thanks for the history lesson," I lower my chin to my chest. "Still…not sure where I fit in with all of this."
"You are one of us, Karma," Aurora states. "You are married to the Capo of the Cosa Nostra."
"The most-wanted man, internationally."
"What...what?" I gape. "I mean, I know he is not on the right side of the law…He is a…"
"Criminal?" Cassandra suggests.
"Most people would call him that, but here in this country, he is…second, only to the Don, in terms of the sway he holds over most people’s lives." Aurora seems to carefully watch my reaction.
"You make him sound like God or something." I laugh nervously.
"Close." Aurora nods.
"Jeez, if I had known all this before-hand—"
"—you wouldn’t have married him?"
"Not like I actually had a choice." I drag my fingers through my hair, "You girls have given me a lot to think about."
