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Prologue
Ivana
Why is it such a big fucking rule that it always has to rain during funerals?
I stand here, reaching out to hold my sister, Galina’s hand as I listen to the preacher drone on and on about our father’s life.
Not that he knows anything about my father’s real— life or his accomplishments.
My father used to be a part of the Clans; a group of elite families that ruled various territories in the mafia. The Romanian Mafia, to be exact. But then he was disgraced when he made the suggestion that we should forgo looking any longer for a woman, rather girl at the time, we couldn’t find, to be our queen, and pick a new ruler. Namely him, who I believe wholeheartedly deserved it.
Our Clan had paid their dues for a long time and had great ideas. He could have done amazing things. But they just didn’t want to hear it because they took offense to what my father had said and banished all of us.Forever.
They replaced us, and because of it, I had lost any future I had with the man that I was sure I was born to love and be cherished by.
Now, as rain pelts down into the river here in Prague, our father is being lowered into a deep grave.
Not that we didn’t see this part coming. He is getting older and has been ill for a long time now, as happens when you live a hard life. And there is no such thing for us other than a hard life now.
Galina and I were determined to give him one last triumph, and we failed.
But whether it be in Heaven, or Hell, or simply the dirt he’s being buried in where my father will remain from this day forward, he will get to see his triumph. I’m fucking determined to make sure he gets that.
New grief strikes me, and I’m a bit surprised by it. Galina and I both were preparing for this day for a long time; over a year. That’s what you do when you have a loved one who is ill and aging and in bed. You prepare for the worst every day, knowing that it is coming. You don’t expect to still be so sad or shocked when the time comes. But I guess death is funny like that.
Anger, though, overtakes any sadness that I do have. I’m angry at myself and my sister, which I should be considering a failure, however, I’m also angry at the Clans, at all of those who continue to ruin us and continue to thrive in our ousting so long ago.
Very few are here at my father’s funeral. I have no doubt that it has something to do with the fact that he is no longer a prominent figure in the remaining criminal community as he used to be. I also know that it has a little bit to do with the fact that he was a ruthless man, a man after my own heart, if I do say so myself.
I haven’t always been the most ruthless of women. I have always been ambitious, to say the least. But my ambition is about to change courses and maybe become like my sister’s; the kind that was passed down from my father rather than the crazy obsessiveness that my mother and her genetics gave to me.
Galina and I walk away; no need to say goodbyes out loud. Any goodbyes of ours have already been said at his bedside many times, and to be honest, I don’t believe in goodbyes. I believe in results.
“Ivana, sister, it is time to let go of your fantasy. This fantasy that you have that Phillipe Sala will ever be yours. You lost him long ago the same way that our family lost its dignity. It’s time to get serious about avenging our father, and ourselves, for that matter. We need to avenge what was done to our family, and it is time to put those childish things aside and be the best that we can be.”
I look at my sister, and for the first time, I see a weakness, one that has never been there before. She was always the ruthless one, the bitch, the one with the great big plans. She’s never seemed to feel much of anything, but the one thing that she has is her love for our father. She had loved him in a way that I don’t think anyone, even his own wife, has ever loved him. They were always side-by-side, and she was his successor, and he treated her as such even though she was a woman. And she had to become like a man in woman’s clothing in order to make sure that she was prepared for what was ahead for our family.
“Philippe is dead to me,” I say to her, knowing it to be true. No lies from me anymore on that front. “Believe me, he made his choice to be with an Italian whore; that Carla. So, that’s the end of that. Even this baby in my belly doesn’t seem to have convinced him of anything. He isn’t the man I believed he was if he could fall for a woman like her.” My hand instinctively rubs along my gigantic stomach, knowing that I’m about to give birth to this child that I thought was Philippe’s.
Of course, I was fooled, and it may not be Philippe’s at all. But it isn’t like it matters at all anymore. There is no father that is willing to step up and do this. I will have to do this on my own. Now, I’m going to give birth here in Prague, and my mother and her staff are going to pamper this baby for me so that I can assist my sister, Galina, in her task. And when it’s all said and done, I will come back victorious and raise my daughter the rest of her life to know that she is part of a family of winners.
“Good, I’m glad that you finally see some sense. I let it go for a while there because I knew that you had strong feelings about this and that having Philippe on our side could do amazing things for family. But it’s over. And it’s time you let it go. The Clans are meeting together around next week for another celebration for the Salas’ union. I think we need to come up with a way to infiltrate that party and gain what information we can. You think you can handle this so soon?”
I gaze down at my stomach, knowing that tomorrow is my official induction day. I’m having this baby one way or another tomorrow. It has been inside me too long, and I am anxious to meet her. And it’s dangerous for her to stay there anyway.
I look at my sister and nod. “With all the strength that you have taught me and all the strength that our parents have taught me, I have no doubt that I can be back at it in a week. We would just have to catch a redeye,” I tell her with a grin.
“We’re going to have to be more careful this time, more cunning, more intelligent . . . ” Galina trails off. I know she is right, and I believe we can do it.
“What we need is a place to spy, a place someone might come to us or we might see things happening right there. Things happening without being inside. There may come a time we can go inside a Clan function again, but I think it’s too soon.”
“I agree, I will plan this all out somehow’ you just worry about getting my niece here safely, and then we will begin our revenge.”
