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1
LUCA
I sat alonein the dimly lit living room, a glass of whiskey in my hand; a bitter token of an even more bitter existence. I twirled the glass slowly in my palm as I pondered what this life would look like now that I was Don of the family.
Me…
A crime boss.
I’ve always had my parents at the helm of the family. Now, they’d decided to retire and leave me in charge. If I was being honest with myself, I was a little worried.
One question kept plaguing me.
Do I have what it takes to run the family?
The story of my parents was a crazy one, to say the least. Victor and Charlotte. Mom and Dad. Twenty-two years had passed since their union, and man, that union was one of the biggest doozies in crime family history.
My father, Victor Esposito, was the boss of the notorious Bonanno crime family, known for its ruthless tactics and widespread control over the illicit trades in our great city. My mother, Charlotte, on the other hand, was the Princess of the equally powerful Colombos. Her father was big-time. He’d done things that most only dreamed of by basically having the entire NYPD in his back pocket. To say my father wanted a piece of that pie would be an understatement.
He wanted the whole damn thing.
And he was going to do anything and everything it took to get it.
It wasn’t like my grandpa was going to hand it over to him. The tension between our families had always been thick with violence and bloodshed.
But somehow, against all odds, my parents' love brought the warring families to a truce. Their relationship forged an alliance, uniting the Bonannos and Colombos in a way no one could have predicted. Especially considering the Colombos were responsible for my other grandfather’s death.
Hell,Istill couldn't even fully grasp how such a union had worked, and I was the product of it. How could they set all of the bullshit aside?
How could they fall for one another in the first place?
The story of their love was actually kind of a twisted one.
Dad had kidnapped Mom. Pretty messed up, right?
It was an act that should have fueled her hatred toward him. Something that should have done nothing but sealed their fate. And yet, as time went on, it was the exact opposite. Something shifted between them. They started to see each other as more than enemies, and in the end, love blossomed.
Talk about the most unlikely of places.
Amid their unconventional romance, there was still the mob.
There was still the crime.
Honestly, I witnessed things no child should ever see. Murder, bloodshed, and the dark underbelly of the criminal world were my everyday reality. It was a constant reminder that my parents’ love wasn’t the only unconventional thing.
We all lived a privileged life.
There’s a price for everything.
Murder. Bloodshed, drugs, dirty cops, underground casinos…
That was ours.
It wasn’tallcrazy, though.
Despite the chaos and danger that surrounded them, and us, my parents managed to build a big, beautiful, fruitful life together. They have retired from their criminal activities, passing the torch onto me, their oldest child.
Now, they were living the dream.
