AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My Dearest Catalina,
If you're reading this then you know I have reached an untimely end. In the world I lived in, I knew this to be a very real possibility. Hence why I have organized the passing of my knowledge to you.
I have left you my journal to guide you through these treacherous times, and I trust you will not show anyone. It is for your eyes alone.
You already know that I run many successful businesses. What you don't know is I have many more that are below board, and by that, I mean illegal and unethical. I run a syndicate that is involved with extortion, underground gambling, drug trafficking and racketeering.
I did not want this world for you, but with me gone, I know our enemies will come for you too and our wealth. So you must try to understand the extent of which our family is ingrained in the dark underside of this city.
I know this will be a shock to you but know I did it for the family. For you. My legacy.
Read my journal. It will explain all.
Before I go:
How does a princess make financial decisions after inheriting the kingdom?
By using her royal "cents”-ibility and "cents" of humor!
I’ll love you always, Mi changuito.
Your loving father,
Mateo xoxo
Tears welled in my eyes as the letter dropped from my hand. I'm not sure what triggered them. The fact that my father was dead; he was not who he appeared to be; or the fact he'd dragged me into his world of organized crime.
I wiped away the tears rolling down my face and looked out over the rolling hills before me. The sun was high in the sky and the birds were soaring peacefully. I sat for some time, contemplating what this meant for my life.
It was a few hours later that I picked up the large, leather-bound journal from the bottom of the box, and taking a deep breath, I started to read….
1 week later
I'd spent the last week reading my father's journal over and over. I couldn’t believe all this time the majority of our fortune had come from the mafia ran by my father.
What did that make me?
I drove through the gates unimpeded, giving Ivar a quick wave as I past. Pulling the Mercedes to a stop near the front door, I wondered for the thousandth time if I was making a big mistake. My father’s journal had not only outlined his associates but also his rivals. The main two being, the triad ran by one Luca Dela Cruz, and another that was in the shadows, ran by someone called the Phoenix. He described that under no circumstance was I to trust, deal with, or engage with these parties, stating how dangerous they were. Going so far as to say, they would kill me given half the chance.
But I needed to speak with Luca, and I was willing to give the boys a chance to explain their side. I found it hard to believe what my father said to be true, given the generosity the boys had shown.
Grabbing my handbag containing Luca’s gun, just to be sure, I knocked on their front door.
Eva, their housemaid answered, smiling brightly at the sight of me. She gave me a quick hug then stepped back, allowing me to enter. “Catalina, I thought you might come.”
I frowned, “Why is that?”
She looked at me worriedly, “You don’t know?”
I shook my head.
“You must follow me.”
As we moved through the manor, my crutches clacking on the polished floors, I noticed that the place was eerily quiet.
Eva brought me to some vast double doors and opened them wide so I could enter. Inside was a large, dark red mahogany table, big enough to seat twenty people around it. The shiny finish of the table brought back the memory of my father’s coffin, so beautiful in its sleekness, yet the meaning so opposite.
At the far end of the table, Nico and Atlas were sitting, deep in discussion with a third figure who stood, facing away from them, staring into a fireplace. One hand was holding a glass half filled with an amber liquid and he was swirling it slowly. The man seemed to be listening, deep in thought as Nico and Atlas spoke in hushed tones.
