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“My father sent me away because she is pregnant with my child, the heir of our great family, and just as we had discovered the news, so had the Saconne family,” I explained. I saw expressions of realization dawning on their faces.
“The Saconne family attempted to either kill or kidnap Aryana, and as a result, my father decided to send us away,” I explained everything to them, and I could see understanding on their faces, but I didn’t feel like I had accomplished anything. An understanding was different from acceptance. Just because they understood she didn’t mean their displeasure would fade. I would still need to prove myself to them that they hadn’t misplaced their loyalty in me.
“I understand that I need to give loyalty down if I want loyalty up. I will earn your forgiveness. I know a mere ‘sorry’ will not return what we’ve lost. I understand trust is earned and respect is given while loyalty is shown. I will not let your loyalty in me turn you into fools. Like an army, a family’s strength is in its loyalty to each other. Blood makes you related, while loyalty makes you blood. I promise I will lead the Romano family to rise from the ashes. We will rain fire on the Saconne family and return to them ten-fold the suffering they gave us. This I promise to you all.”
Chapter 27
Aryana
Watching how the men under the Romano family cheered for Alexander settled the unease that had appeared ever since Marcelo told me what was happening. I was aware that this didn’t mean that they had forgiven Alexander. It meant that they would give him a chance to prove himself. I wondered if we hadn’t slept together or if I had allowed him to go back to grab a condom from his car back then, would this have happened? There would have been no need for Alexander to go into hiding. He would have stayed here with his family. His father probably wouldn’t have died, and these men wouldn’t have doubted Alexander’s loyalty to his family.
I wished they wouldn’t be harsh on Alexander as it hadn’t been his fault. It wasn’t as if he had wanted to leave. He had argued with his father, but in the end, he’d had no choice but to obey his father’s orders. But I knew that wasn’t how the mafia operated.
I watched in curiosity as they went on to perform the ceremony that would mark Alexander as the new Don, and I was slightly horrified to see them bring a gun, a knife, and a large tub filled with water. What exactly did this ceremony entail?
I watched in twisted curiosity as Alexander was stripped of the upper layers of his clothes and shoes, leaving his torso and feet bare. I watched as he stepped into the large tub with Tony and Marcelo at his sides, holding his arms. The man named Alfonso stepped up to them.
“You are to be baptized, to drown and emerge as something new—the Don of the Romano family. Nothing else matters but the family. Do you have any objections to your position?” Alfonso said.
I watched with fascination as Alexander said no, and with a gesture from Alfonso, Tony and Marcelo lowered Alexander backward into the water. There was no struggle or look of hesitation on his face as he was submerged completely in the water, his body floating for a few seconds before being lifted. He stepped out of the tub, water dripping from his body. If not for how serious the atmosphere was and how important the ceremony was, I would have taken the time to observe the water droplets still clinging to his chiseled abs.
Next, Alfonso picked up the knife and turned to Alexander, who held out his right hand. Alfonso held Alexander’s index finger, pricking it with the knife and squeezing it until a bead of blood appeared. Alfonso gave the gun to Alexander, who placed his still, slowly bleeding finger on the trigger.
“This blood means that we are now one family. You live by the gun and the knife, and you die by the gun and the knife.” Alfonso declared. “You must never betray any of the secrets of this Cosa Nostra. It would be best if you never violated the wife or children of another member. It would be best if you never consumed narcotics. You must be loyal to this family's members and an honorable man. Do you agree with all of these?”
There was no hesitance or reluctance as Alexander immediately agreed.
“Recite the oath of omertà.”
Alexander turned to the crowd with confidence in his stature. “I vow to never, under any circumstances, apply for justice to the legal authorities and never to assist in detecting crimes committed against oneself or others. The right to avenge wrongs is reserved for the victims and their families. If I break this vow, may I be punished with death?”
I let out a breathy exhale at the vow. This was the infamous code of silence that was punishable by death. To think that Alexander made this vow without fear.
“I now declare you the Don of the Romano family. May you never sleep with the fishes.”
“Don Alessandro!Don Alessandro!”
Chants of Alexander’s title and name filled the air. I felt like I had witnessed something I wasn’t supposed to, which in a way, I did. I was only able to be here because of Alexander. In a way, I felt honored that I had witnessed such an event, no matter how disturbing and occultic it looked. I stared at Alexander’s unyielding posture as he looked across his men. I was consumed with pride for this man.
However, the weeks that followed Alexander’s induction into his new role were full of loneliness and fear. Alexander accompanied them to the frontlines of their battles to prove his loyalty to his men. Each day, I was wrought with fear that he would not return, only to have my suspended heart calm down upon seeing him alive. It did not lessen the heartache and worried I would feel when seeing him sporting different injuries.
I hated how accustomed I had become to cleaning his wounds, that I barely batted an eyelid when he entered our room covered in non-lethal injuries. However, my heart threatened to leap out of my mouth when he stumbled into our room drenched in blood, with Marcelo supporting him.
“Alexander!” I yelled in shock before dashing to help Marcelo support Alexander on the other side. “What the fuck happened?” I demanded.
“Calm down. Most of the blood isn’t his.” Marcelo said with a grin. I couldn’t comprehend how he could smile when his friend was in this state until I remembered that he was part of the mafia. They must have witnessed even worse scenarios than this before. I took comfort in knowing that most of this blood did not belong to Alexander. I didn’t know how to feel about the fact that I was glad that this amount of blood belonged to someone else, as if my moral compass was now entering the gray zone. I only cared about whether they came from Alexander or not. Was this the result of staying in such an environment? Would I also come to disregard human life? Was this the environment our child would grow up in? I didn’t know how to feel about that. I would have spoken to Alexander about it if there had been a period in the last couple of weeks where we had said more than two sentences.
“This blood belongs to Elio Saconne. Alessandro killed him all by himself” Marcelo grinned widely in pride.
My eyes widened in surprise.
Elio Saconne was one of the brothers of Tom Saconne, the Don of the Saconne family. Marcelo had explained a little about the dynamics of the mafia families. Tom Saconne was the oldest of three brothers. After him were his two younger brothers, Elio and Felice Saconne. Despite how impulsive Tom appeared, it was a known fact that he doted on his brothers though I had doubts on whether he actually doted on them or if it was simply that he let them do whatever they wanted, precisely because he didn’t care about them.
Alexander killing Elio meant a ray of sunshine for the Romano family as the war finally turned in their favor. It also told that Alexander was proving himself to his family members. Killing Elio was equivalent to cutting off a limb of the Saconnes. It was good news. I allowed myself to drag my eyes over Alexander and observe his features, spotting no happiness or pride in his feat. It had been quite a long time since I last saw him.
I barely see Alexander nowadays. He was either fighting alongside his men or plotting and planning how to whittle away the Saconne family’s fighting power and resources.
There was no interaction between us as Marcelo departed, probably sensing the same tension in the room while Alexander went to clean up. I waited with the first aid box to treat his wounds. When he came out, I was glad that Marcelo had been telling the truth and that Alexander hadn’t been injured. Seeing the new addition of scars to his body didn't stop my heartache. That was a canvas of purple bruises and still healing wounds.
