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“I am so sorry,” I owe him an apology, it is my family that has set this in motion. “I should have been there.”
He shakes his head and speaks. “I thank God you were not. I am sorry for your loss Salvatore, I can only imagine your pain.” He can’t, no one can. “We will set this right. You know this is not the time to let your anger get the better of you.” He is telling me that I am not allowed to have my revenge, that I have to follow his lead. I don’t think I am a strong enough man to do that.
“I know you will,” I say to keep him happy, “I have to take care of my nephew now, its’ what Felix and Maria wanted.” I still do not understand why they would give me their child, it feels wrong. I will fail him, like I failed my brother.
“Stay safe, Sal,” Lorenzo says to me as I leave.
“Let’s go, little Raul, there’s a tiny island waiting for us,” I whisper to him as I hold him against me, wishing it could bring my brother back. It’s the only time I feel close to him again.
CHAPTER 3
Lucia
After the threat we all received, I was right to stay home where we could be protected by around the clock security. My brothers are on high alert and Benito is in charge — my father is in the wind or on his boat. I don’t know but he is the head of the family, and his life has to be protected at all costs. If he is gone, we are sitting ducks.
The entire compound is on lockdown, no one in or out without security clearance and I am a prisoner in my own home. I know it is essential to keep things this way, but it is driving me crazy, stir crazy, not being able to come and go. I’m the last thing on anyone’s mind. My brothers are all busy with ‘work’ and trying to tie this family to new allies and make new deals to secure our safety, finances and to make sure nothing happens to the legacy we are supposed to be proud of.
“What do you want Lucia?” My brother notices me hovering at the study door. “I am busy.” He looks up at me over the laptop screen in front of him, there are two, armed security guards in the room, I don’t exactly want to talk in front of them.
“Can I go out today?” I ask him, “maybe with Laura.”
Benito closes his computer, and sighs. “No Lucia, you cannot go out in public when there is a very real threat to your life. Laura is with Luca’s family. They have also left the city.” Everyone has left but us, we are here like animals in a cage at the zoo. “We need you here. There’re plans to salvage the mess you made by losing Lorenzo.” Losing him? What the hell? Obviously my mouth says nothing, but my brother reads my face. “You were supposed to marry that man, not make an enemy of him. We had enough of those to start with, now I have to find a new way to strengthen this family.”
“What do you need me here for then?” I ask, honestly slightly confused. I could go to Capri or hide with Laura and Luca in the south.
“We have some deals in play with the Russians. They have expressed an interest in a marriage tie. To close the deal you would marry his eldest son.”
“I will do what?” My brother has lost his mind. I am not going to marry a Russian, I want a good Italian husband. That was always the plan, my father told me many times I would marry a mafia man. Like him. “I’m not getting shipped off to Russia, it’s fucking cold there.” I wish my dad would just come home, this is nuts.
“You cannot cause any trouble there, and you will not be able to ruin alliances with your bratty behavior.” He sucked in a breath. “Lucia, you will do what we tell you to do. When you told Vanessa about Lorenzo you lost your privileges and your freedom. You were irresponsible and selfish, so now we will make your choices for you.”
“I am not a child Benito, you cannot do that!”
“You act like a child Lucia, like a spoiled little rich brat, so until you act like an adult you will be treated like a child. Grow up, little sister, because you will need to be tough to survive your new life. I can’t have you here messing things up. You are a liability.”
“I will run away before I let you marry me off to some brute!” I stamp my feet.
“See, you’re a fucking child.”
I shut my mouth and bite my tongue. If that’s their plan, I will find my own plan. It cannot be that hard to find a rich man looking for a pretty girl. All I need is an escape plan. If I am ruined or with another man, they won’t want me. I know these men. They all want pure, virginal brides — I will be none of those things. Before they even get here, I will fuck it all up.
“Run away, Lucia, I will not send anyone to find you. See how you do without Dads’ money and your cushy lifestyle. How are you going to buy all those fancy clothes? Who will do your hair and nails? Really? You couldn’t survive on your own for a day. Stop being stupid.”
They all think I am stupid, I am not. I pretend to be, to make sure I fit in. I have a brain, I just never needed to use it.
“I am not stupid, Benito, I am also not some commodity you can trade to get what you want. I am a person, and I am not going to Russia. Find another plan, or I will show you, and him, what a brat is.”
My brother is deeply confused with his level of importance. Unless my father comes home and tells me to marry some stranger, it is not going to happen.
“I am busy, Lucia, you cannot go out. Go find someone else to annoy.” He dismisses me as if I am an employee not family.
“This is bullshit,” I snap and storm out of the study, “I wish Dad would come back and put you back in your place,” I yell over my shoulder. He needs a reality check. The house is enormous, and empty, and I have run out of things to entertain myself. So I decide I will cause a little chaos of my own. I pull on my tiniest swimsuit, and lather my body in sunscreen, grab my phone, glasses, and a sun hat. The pool is that stunning summer blue, and there is not a cloud in the sky.
Laying my towel out on the lounger, I take note of the three soldiers posted near the pool area and the one on the balcony upstairs who has a perfect view of me. I untie the string bikini top, and remove it, no one wants tan lines. One man with a gun coughs and turns away, I can feel his friends are looking at me as I lie back and scroll through the same posts I have already seen today.
I’m about to toss my phone in the pool, when I get an idea — I am not going to find a man locked up in here. But there is world of online dating, I am sure there’s at least one out there. I sign up under a fake name, snap a very sexy pool selfie that shows I am topless without showing everything. I fill out my profile, and make it clear I am looking for a rich older man. This is fun, I think as I swipe left and right on the matches. Some of them are definitely not matches, they are way off with a few of the men they think I might like.
Good lord, I want a husband not a grandfather, I adjust the age parameters. I don’t have any interest in boys, any man under the age of thirty is still too stupid to be husband material. There is a huge difference between boys, and men.
