The Crimson Benediction: A teen mafia romance novelette

by Ella Bilgrim

  “They said there are 21 chapels in this crypt,” a voice said aloud. “Eight of which are still undiscovered.”

  Thirteen men stood around the chapel and the one speaking had his back turned toward the group.

  “But the Bellini family knows where they are.” The man turned around and they saw that he was very young, probably in his mid-20s.

  “Hello, Rafael,” he flashed a sinister smile at Rafael.

  “Gabriel?” Rafael was shocked to discover that the man behind the resurgence of the Bellini mafia organization was the only grandson of Giuliano Bellini. Gabriel Bellini looked like a model with his platinum blond hair, toned body, and hard features.

  “Yes,” Gabriel hissed. “After the downfall of my family, some of my grandfather’s men took me in and raised me. As the sole heir of the clan, we’ve breathed fresh life into our… family,” he paused “…and reached out to all sectors of society.”

  He sighed before he continued, “But, I remember you, Rafael.” He took a card from his left-breast and held it up to Rafael. It was the blood-stained photo of a saint. Gabriel turned his attention to Alex and grinned.

  “Nevertheless, we’re gathered here today to witness the testimony of Scott Geneva over the recycled coca dolares found in our ‘suspicious’ accounts in Florida,” he extended his arms to Scott. “Smart man,” he harrumphed.

  He motioned a Mafioso to separate Scott from Melody and Thomas, but Rafael took the opportunity of Gabriel’s divided attention and delivered a headbutt and a series of kicks to anyone in his reach.

  It was a short battle, as a hefty gangster gave him a solid punch to the stomach and Rafael lay subdued on the floor.

  “Play nice,” Gabriel drawled. “Sykes, bring Rafael and Scott here. Antoine, leave the children in one of our family tombs,” he ordered.

  “No!” Melody cried when a Mafioso tried to separate her from Thomas. She kicked the man in the groin and landed a few blows to his face.

  A glint of silver caught her attention. The key! She distracted the man by biting his hand but grabbed at the key while he was yelling in pain. She slipped it into her pocket just before he slapped her hard, stunning her.

  “Mel!” Scott cried out. He looked Gabriel squarely in the eyes. “Whatever it is you want I’ll do it! Just leave my kids alone!”

  Gabriel shrugged. “That depends on whether you cooperate with me. Antoine, get them into the vault.”

  Two long corridors intersected in the chapel and they passed by one with cadaver decorations on the wall, accompanied by murals of crying saints.

  Antoine led them to the deepest recesses of the crypt.

  “Mel,” Alex spoke in hushed tones only she could hear. “Never do that again.”

  “But -”

  “Ever. I’ll get us out of here. I promise.”

  “Silenzio!” spat Antoine.

  They stopped by a tomb with four exits, and the Mafioso began to separate them from one another.

  “No one will discover your bodies here,” Antoine sneered.

  Thomas whimpered as the men cocked their guns. Melody held him closely while watching two gangsters surround Alex.

  “Move it, boy!” they pushed Alex in one direction in the dark, but not before Melody broke free from their grasps and rushed to Alex and met his lips with her own.

  He was shocked by the suddenness, but he returned Melody’s kiss and was surprised again to feel something pass between their lips.

  She never expected her first kiss to happen under threat of death. She dreamt of having it on a gondola right beneath a full moon by the Grand Canal – not in a crypt with skeletons dangling on the walls or left sprawling on the floor. She wanted the guy to make the first move – not her. And certainly not a guy she’d only known for 24 hours.

  Alex gave her a sheepish grin as she broke free, and Melody thought she heard her brother mutter eww, eww, eww, a few times.

  “I’m really sorry about this,” she murmured. And with that, she turned around and launched herself at one of their captors, knocking him off his feet and grabbing a lit torch from him.

  “Hey! If you want me, come and get me!” she yelled as she blindly ran through the door on the left and into the dark tunnel.

  “Mel!” Thomas screamed behind her, and Antoine snapped at his men to chase after her.

  Alex took advantage of the distraction and kicked the man holding him, causing his gun to clatter to the ground. Another of the Mafiosi tried to lunge for the gun, but Thomas kicked it away, and Alex’s foot caught the man square in the jaw as he teetered and lost his balance, crashing to the floor.

  Antoine only stood back, watching the commotion, and Thomas, feeling braver after his success with the gun, tried to hurl punches at Antoine, but the much bulkier man simply shoved him, and Thomas fell backwards, tripping over a skeleton on the ground.

  After subduing two henchmen, Alex spat out the key that Melody had slipped him during their kiss and freed himself. A Mafioso waived his knife at him and slashed Alex’s arm, but he still managed to fight back despite the blood now dribbling freely down his arm.

  He blocked a few thrusts before swinging the manacles at his opponent’s face. Having grown tired of watching the fuss, Antoine raised his weapon to Alex’s head. Thomas, no longer winded from his fall, picked up the closest thing he could find – a human skull – and lobbed it at Antoine, hitting the gun just as the gangster had pulled the trigger, and the noise of the shot ricocheted around the cavern.

  Alex lunged at Antoine, and they wrestled until finally, Alex swung the butt of the gun and hit Antoine square in the jaw, breaking it.

  With four men down, Alex rushed to Thomas who was dusting off his clothes.

  “Nice one bro. Let’s go save your sister,” he panted.

  As they followed in the direction they suspected she’d gone, they entered a room and found Melody backed up against a wall, with a man pointing a gun at her face.

  “Adio, bella,” he said.

  Melody raised her hands up to her face to shield herself, and suddenly a gunshot rang out, deafening them all. She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to hit, but instead there was shouting and crying, so she opened them again to see the man kneeling on the ground holding his hand as blood poured from it. Melody kicked him hard and the Mafioso slumped to the ground.

  She flung herself into her brother’s waiting arms and gave him a huge bear hug, before releasing the protesting boy and turning to a bruised and battered Alex.

  “I heard a gunshot,” she started. “I thought you were…”

  Alex shook his head.

  She gave him an awkward nod before saying thanks. She playfully fist bumped his shoulder, but Alex winced.

  “Sorry!”

  “Anyway, thanks for the … kiss – I mean, keys, no – just a key,” he stammered. “Thanks for the key.”

  Wow, Thomas rolled his eyes. Alex and Melody just grinned at each other.

  “Let’s head back to our dads, shall we? They may need our help,” Alex suggested.

  * * *

  When they rushed back to the chapel center, they were greeted by several guns pointing at them.

  “Play nice or Sykes will slash his throat,” Gabriel said with feigned somberness.

  Rafael was kneeling on the ground and Sykes held his head in one hand, a knife positioned at his throat with the other, and a reliquary waiting on the ground, clearly ready to catch the blood as it drains from his body

  Scott was tapping computer keys near the altar, obviously distressed and calling out to his children.

  “Out, out, get them to the center here,” Gabriel pointed to a couple of his men, among them Antoine who seemed almost oblivious to the knife still jutting out just above his knee.

  “Pops…” Alex whispered, and Rafael gave his son a thumbs up despite his bruised and battered body.

  “After we drain your blood, Rafael, we’ll incinerate your body, so nobody can find you,” Gabriel said in a matter-o
f-fact way. “We own a number of funeral businesses here in Venice, and I’ll make you a reliquary which I’ll keep as a trophy in the home where you initially made your oath to the family. ”

  “For such a sickly boy to sit as the heir of the Bellini clan,” Rafael chuckled. “You sure showed everyone.”

  Sykes struck Rafael in the chest and he coughed up more blood.

  “I trained myself for years to become strong,” Gabriel said hoarsely. “I got that motivation from you when my grandfather asked you to look after me.”

  “Sykes!” Gabriel bellowed. “I give my order – slice Rafael’s throat for me,” he made a gesture with his hand. “And make it clean, this time.” Sykes chuckled and waved the knife in front of Rafael.

  A gunshot rang out in the chapel as Antoine fired his gun at Sykes who collapsed to the ground. Secret Agent Antoine pointed his gun at Gabriel, much to everyone’s bewilderment and surprise.

  “You can’t do this…” Gabriel screamed at Antoine. “You can’t do this to me!”

  “Drop it, Gabriel,” Antoine announced. “The Carabinieri-ROS, Special Operations Group, is just above the crypts,” he said. “Oh, and we’ve intercepted your men in INTERPOL.”

  “Let me have at ’em,” Rafael stood up, coughing and clenching at his chest.

  “Pops!” Alex ran to his father’s side to lend him support.

  Antoine waved his hands and called in his backup to clear the crypt.

  Enraged, Gabriel held up a gun and leveled it at Rafael. “Shoot! I order you to open fire!” he screamed.

  Bullets flew between the Mafioso leader and the undercover agent. Scott threw himself down to protect his kids, who were hunkered down behind the altar for cover. Alex lowered his limping father to the ground and tried to tend his worst-looking wounds, while also trying to keep an eye on the fight going on around him.

  “If we lived through this, the first thing I’m going to do is to file a travel insurance claim!” Scott exclaimed.

  “Sort out your priorities, Dad!” Thomas retorted.

  “Per terra! Per terra!“ Get on the ground now!

  The fight suddenly stopped but when Melody raised her head above the altar, there was no sign of Gabriel Bellini.

  Antoine crouched down in front of the group to check on Rafael who smiled and waved off his concern.

  “Sorry you had to meet him like this,” Rafael reassured them, “but, everyone, meet Agent Antoine Cole, Cole, everyone. We work together for the CIA.”

  “Did you know about this?” Melody murmured to Alex.

  “My pops never told me about him,” Alex replied pointing at the knife he thrust into Antoine’s leg.

  Antoine ripped the hole in his jeans to show a prosthetic leg. “I was in the army long before I joined the CIA. Besides, you did pretty well, kid. Really roughed me up. You sure you don’t want to advance his training, Raf?”

  Rafael shot him a telling look.

  “Sorry couldn’t get the lads in time. We have to sift through CIA on who’s betraying who,” he paused before continuing, “it wasn’t a pretty sight back there.”

  “Let’s get everyone out of here. Where’s Gabriel?” Rafael rasped in exhaustion.

  Antoine shook his head. “I reckon he’ll give us another headache soon– but, not today.”

  * * *

  Melody stood at the edge of the vast and busy expanse of St. Mark's Square. She savored all the people gathered in the piazza – strolling, drinking coffee, shopping, or simply chatting with friends.

  Three days had passed since the incident at San Simeone Piccolo. They were rushed to the hospital with her dad screaming at Rafael over the secrets, threats, and hostage-taking that had occurred.

  Poor dad, she thought. He literally idolized a man at work who really was an undercover agent. Dad’s hurt, but his trust in Rafael hasn’t been broken yet, so there’s a chance of friendship still for the two of them.

  She thought Thomas might need counseling, but he seemed to fare better than she thought. “I‘ve read a lot of books, seen a lot of movies, and played enough video games, I’ll be fine,” he said, “but, I‘ve changed my mind. I don’t want to be an accountant like dad anymore.”

  As for her, she had seen less and less of Alex. He checked up on them in the hospital and offered a few words of comfort, but never stayed for long. That hurt her. But then again, Alex was probably just doing his job – if that’s what it was called.

  “How old is your son again?” Scott asked Rafael once. “Is he allowed to do this?” He was a little bit apprehensive since Thomas now suggested he wanted to be a secret agent when he grew up.

  She thought that, to Alex, this was just another adventure. He would have other gigs with his dad, see a lot of girls… and that hurt. He was the first guy she had ever kissed – even if she had only met him the day before. But she couldn’t deny the fact that she liked him. A lot.

  They were leaving for Florida the next day, and they figured central intelligence wouldn’t let them off the hook for a while, but Melody had to forget the past and move on with her life as a college student now.

  On the piazza, artists were performing various dances, drawing portraits, and carrying out drama performances with prompts from the crowd.

  Melody was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear Alex calling her name until he actually tapped her on the shoulder.

  She turned to see him smiling at her.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey, you,” Alex replied. “Heard from Pops that you will be leaving tomorrow,” he started.

  “Yeah, we need to sort things out back in the States. And you? You’ll be traveling around with your dad?” she said, hoping that Alex might be able to stay in Florida for a while.

  “Maybe.”

  Maybe is an undefined yes, so that confirmed it.

  “So, this is goodbye, then?” she hung her head to avoid his gaze.

  “I hope not.”

  She reached her hand out for a handshake, but Alex took her hand and practically dragged her to where a street musician played a viola.

  “Alex, I don’t dance!” Melody exclaimed, laughing.

  “I don’t dance either,” he chuckled. “So, it’s a good first for us both, yeah?”

  Melody felt her cheeks burn. He took her hand and placed his on her waist. They swayed slowly to the beat of the music.

  “I do wish we had more time,” he began. “I’m not good at this.”

  “We have no choice,“ Melody whispered as she relaxed into the feeling of their bodies moving together to the music.

  When the music stopped, he handed a box to Melody, suddenly and quickly, telling her to take it as a gift. Alarmed by this repeat of their first meeting, she asked him what it was.

  “You can give it to me when we meet again, bella,” he gave her that familiar grin. “I’ll definitely see you again.” He gave her his trademark amused smile and disappeared into the crowd.

  As Alex faded into the mass of people, Melody opened the box to see an antique brass heart-and-lock ring to remind her of their first meeting at the Rialto and their first kiss in the crypts. It had a small inscription saying, Where’s the love for adventure there? Since we can’t lock promises at Rialto Bridge anymore, I hope this might bring back some unspoken ones, Bella.

  * * * Five months later * * *

  The crowd gave a thundering applause to their little performers. Tonight’s show was to raise funds for Children with Cancer, and Melody had been told that she and her team achieved their donation goals. There would be a little cocktail party with donors, actors, and the attending crowd in the attached hall at which she was due to give a thank you speech soon.

  “I’m proud of you, pumpkin,” her dad said in awe.

  “Hey there, chef!” Melody called to Thomas, who was laying out freshly made cupcakes on the buffet table. He only responded with a thumbs up, as his mouth was full of cake. So, he makes it, he eats it.

  As the evening wen
t on, Melody was so busy exchanging pleasantries and handshakes that she didn’t notice a boy slipping into the room. She made her way to the stage for her speech, when her eyes suddenly landed on one unexpected visitor in the crowd. He had shaggy brown hair, with gray eyes. He wore a black shirt with dog tags around his neck. Behind him was a much older man with similar features, smiling and saying hello to Scott and Thomas.

  But right now, she would have to address the crowd and hope people wouldn’t notice her tears.

  “Good evening, everyone,” Melody started. “We are more than thankful to you for coming to our show this evening. We hope you enjoyed the experience. To our donors tonight, we’re happy to say that we’ve reached our goal and we can proceed to donate the funds to Children with Cancer for treatments.” There was a round of applause from the crowd which prompted Melody to go on.

  “We may only have had a limited time to prepare for the show, but we hoped to create an impact on these children’s lives in the long run.” She looked at Alex, “One might have thought that a single moment wouldn’t matter. Every stretch, every line, and every movement – we give our all for the people we care about,” she choked up the last part and placed her hand on her chest. Alex smiled as he saw her wearing the ring.

  “It’ll become a thing of the past, it’s something we might forget soon or remember for the rest of our lives.But, we will – I will – remember every last part of that one moment forever.”

  Notes from the author

  Dear reader,

  Thanks for reading my first book. It means so much to me as a young writer. I started writing because it has always been my passion and if I get the chance, I would like to write many more books. If you liked my first novella, I would be very happy if you could leave me a review. I will read every single one, I promise, and I am looking forward to your feedback.

  All the best,

  Your Ella

  Imprint (German)