Sing to Me

by V Domino

  “You two want to get caught making out when the bastard shows up? Fine with me, but I’m taking Carla home,” Marco says with his arms crossed.

  “We’re coming, sheesh,” I say, but when Gavriel glares at Marco’s smirk and wagging eyebrows I know I said something suggestive.

  Rolling my eyes, I mutter, “Boys,” and pick up my bags before anyone can see me turn red. I swear, Marco, Drake, and Nico are the brothers I wish I had growing up, but sometimes I want to hang them by their heels.

  “Stai zitto, idiota,” Gavriel says to Marco. I’m not quite sure what he said but the idiot part tells me enough.

  With one last look around, I give Gavi my bag. “Okay, I got everything I need. Let’s go.”

  On the way down to the car I’m thinking of the ominous letter left in my notebook. Who the hell left it and how long have they known where I live? Fuck! Did they ever come in while I was there, sleeping, fucking showering?

  No, that can’t be, not only am I a light sleeper—due to nighttime creepers, mind you—but they would have already killed me.

  Gavriel must be thinking about it all too because as we climb in the car, he asks, “Do you recognize the writing on the note?”

  “No, and I don’t have any paper like that. So, this person must have written it beforehand. They know I’m with you and they confirmed that Luca is alive.”

  Reading over the note again, Gavriel growls to Marco, “Did Papa ever tell you who he suspected of the Romano killings? This bastardo is claiming the murders so obviously the culling of traitors didn’t eliminate him.” The culling? What the fuck? Does he mean that his father went on a traitor killing spree when my mother and father were killed?

  I know it sounds twisted as fuck, but I could kiss Andino Renzetti right now.

  My parents were loved by these people. They must have been great if they were worthy of such devotion.

  “No, he didn’t. We were too young at the time and Pop had Zio to help him find and kill traitors. We’ll find this piece of shit, brother. Our women will be safe at the house. We’ll have Nico and Drake on them at all times when we’re not there.” I think Marco has decided he’s not going to tiptoe around his feelings for Carla anymore. He confirms that thought when he reaches over and grabs her hand while driving. She doesn’t fight him, so I’m certain she’s feeling the same way too. I just hope he stays true to her or I’ll cut his balls off.

  “Yes, and have Drake bring his crew in on it. They’re to be at the house at all times, even if the girls aren’t there. This fucker knows Sia is with me, so I don’t want any slack in the security. Have Nico run a check on the security system and make sure there’s no blind spots,” Gavriel says while pulling out his phone and dialing someone.

  The loud ringing tone coming through the speakers tells me he has his phone connected to the Range Rover’s Bluetooth.

  “Ciao.” Andino’s voice comes through. “Come va, figlio? What’s going on, son?”

  “Pop, we need a meeting as soon as possible. Family meeting first and then we’ll need a famiglia meeting after,” Gavriel says in a cold voice while sliding his hand between my thighs. He’s going to be the death of me if he keeps making my heart beat erratically.

  “What’s happened?” Zio’s voice has now gone completely monotone. He sounds like the Don that he is.

  “There’s been a threat to Sia and Luca. A note was left in Anastasia’s room.” Gavriel sounds like he’s ready to rip someone’s head off. Now my heart is beating quickly for another reason entirely. No one has ever been protective of me.

  He’s my loaded gun, unrepentant in his devotion to me. Willing to unleash his wrath on anyone I point him to. I’ll be damned if I ever walk away from him and with the way he looks at me I don’t think there’s anywhere I could go that he wouldn’t find me.

  “Cazzo!” Zio says with rage. If he’s pissed now, I can only imagine how he was when my parents died. If the killing spree is anything to go on, I’m fairly certain he put sicarios to shame.

  Breathing deeply, he says, “I’m here with your mother. Nico is here, but you’ll need to get Drake here. I’ll call Adriano.” He doesn’t wait for a reply, he just hangs up.

  I look over at Gavriel and say, “If my presence at your mother and father’s home will bring trouble then maybe I should stay somewhere else?” I don’t know exactly where I’d stay, but I don’t want to bring shit down on them.

  “No, amore mio. You will stay with us there. We’ll bring our brothers back in and make sure guards are on duty there. I want you with me and I know my family feels the same way. Don’t fight me on this, because where you go, I go and then the family will be split up and less protected.” He makes a good point, but I’ll need confirmation from his family.

  Their lives are on the line too.

  A death threat against my girl.

  My fucking blood is boiling.

  Seeing the parchment paper the bastard hand wrote his threat on told me exactly who the fucker is.

  Adriano fucking Renzetti.

  My own bastard of an uncle is the threat to my princess.

  I don’t give a fuck that he’s blood or that he’s my father’s only living brother.

  No. To me, he means shit. Nothing.

  All that matters now is getting a barrel of acid ready for him.

  My father is in denial, hoping this is a terrible mistake. I know it’s not and I'm going to make Adriano eat his own skin. Mark my motherfucking words. All these images and thoughts are flying through my head, giving me a headache from hell, but on the outside I’m as calm and collected as my father taught us to be. Never show weakness and never let others, especially your enemy, see your emotions on your face.

  Poised.

  Calm.

  Motherfucking collected.

  After the family meeting and getting Sia settled in my room, our room now, I walk to the south wing toward my father’s office. We’ve come up with an idea that we hope will make Adriano, the tool that he is, oust himself. With the plan set in motion, I enter the office confident that today this cazzo will be begging for mercy.

  None will be given.

  The office is easily the most domineering room in the mansion. It has dark wood floors, which is different from the gray-colored faux wood in the rest of the mansion. Blood stains are harder to remove on the lighter colors, so my father had the floor replaced with these darker planks. Yes, blood has been spilled many times in this room. There’s a holding cell, in a basement that has only one exit and entry and that is behind my father’s wall of books on the other side of his large oak desk. It has a sixteen-digit code you have to type in before the bookcase will pop open revealing a staircase.

  The desk is littered with knife stabs from the many times my brothers and I have held someone’s hands down to receive their punishment for being late on payments or shorting the payment they owe. Nico runs a loan shark crew and sometimes the people—usually gamblers or men addicted to sex and drugs—who borrow from the famiglia bite off more than they can handle. The interest fees and late fees begin to pile on, but we don’t give a flying fuck what’s going on in your life. You borrow from us you pay on time, with the full amount or we make you pay either with blood or money. It’s your risk to take and most of these men can’t turn down a buck to save their lives.

  The office can easily hold all top capos and then some and has been tested each time a man becomes made and gains his button. Our induction to the cosa nostra happens here, within these walls. This is where we say our oaths and cut our hands.

  The Omerta.

  The basement is where our first kill happens.

  Like all of us, Nico killed his first man—a thieving debtor—in the basement and became a made man at the ripe age of sixteen. He’s the quietest one in the bunch. He’s a lot like our grandfather, according to my father. Stoic and cold, which makes him the greatest hitman in the Renzetti crime family and also earned him the name Nico the Cold. Right now, he’s sitting i
n the back of the room, within the shadows. I’ve given him orders to watch all the men and see which ones, if any, are working with Adriano.

  If there’s anyone who can truly be a human lie detector it’s pretty much anyone in my family but especially Nico.

  And my ma too, but she’s not here for this meeting.

  As soon as Marco and Drake walk in, they give me a nod and I begin the meeting. “Listen up! First, thank you all for coming in at the last minute. I know we’ve all got business to handle, but this is important news and things may start to change. Boss?”

  My father stands up, pulling a cigarette out and lighting it while staring at everyone in the room. My uncle is sitting by the desk fiddling with a pen, like he doesn’t give a shit about anything going on. Questo figlio di puttana, this motherfucker.

  No shame with this guy.

  Everyone else in this room has killed or tortured many times over in their lives and they stand there nervous of the boss’s cold heavy stare, but Adri-fucking-ano just pulls out his phone and begins typing a message out.

  I swear this bastardo doesn’t come from the same bloodline as us.

  Nico silently makes his way over to Adriano as our father begins to talk.

  “Seventeen years ago, there was an attack on the Romano mansion. An attack that killed Liliana and Frankie but failed miserably when their two children got away.”

  My uncle stands and stares right at my father as Nico stays quietly behind him. There’s a low murmuring going around the room as everyone registers the words my father spoke.

  The Romano kids are still alive.

  “In the aftermath as you all know, I not only ordered but also led the killing of all men known to be traitors without hesitation, but it seems I didn’t succeed in eliminating the true murderer.”

  “How do you know, boss? What’s happened that you believe the killer to still be alive?” This question comes from Alessandro DeLucci, a loyal capo.

  “To answer that, my son would like to introduce you to someone.” My father gestures to me, so I walk to the door and call in one of our maids, Lauren Tanner. She’s the youngest in the Tanner clan and is the daughter of an Irish Mobster who runs a clean-up company. The men in the family run the criminal aspect of the business and the women run the legitimate part. The Tanner kids grew up with us so they’re a tough bunch and agreed to help us with this plan.

  After Lauren walks in, she stands next to my father while I address the room. “This is Anastasia Romano. Daughter of Frankie and Liliana. She and her brother managed to escape the attack.” I watch everyone look genuinely shocked and some begin asking questions.

  “Mio Dio! Come è successo?”

  “My God! How did this happen?”

  “Where’s her brother?”

  I’m a little disappointed that I don’t see anyone giving away any signs that they know this is not Anastasia but also glad because that means Adriano had no one from the inner circle helping him in his betrayal.

  I raise my hands to quiet them. “Two days ago Sia was attacked in my club. Two men tried to kidnap her and her friend, but they didn’t realize that she is not a helpless woman at all. She pulled a knife out and took one man down on her own, but today she received a written death threat in her bedroom. Seems the killer is still after Romano blood.”

  I look directly at the fucking prick who doesn’t deserve the underboss seat, just as his slimy voice rings out. “This girl is Anastasia Romano?” He stands and gives a scoff while looking between us and the rest of the men. It’s all I can do to hold myself back and let him dig his own grave.

  “She does not look like a Romano.” He declares. Lauren has the same dark brown hair, but that’s about all that’s similar between her and Sia, but no one should be able to tell except for the culprit.

  I look at him for a moment and wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t, so I continue, “As I was saying—” but Adriano cuts me off.

  “Boy! I asked you a question. Is this really Anastasia or are you trying to pull a fast one on us? What, you don’t trust your own men?” Oh, this bastard. I look at my father and see the same conclusion in his eyes. Adriano is a traitor.

  He steps toward my uncle, blowing smoke in his face, and says, “That was a disrespectful thing to say. You stand here and accuse my son, essentially me, of distrusting my men? Men who have been loyal and have spilled blood in the Renzetti name? Men who not only pay their dues but put in work too?” With a shake of his head he continues, “No, I do not believe my men would be foolish enough to waste their hard work by trying to harm my dead brother’s children, but it seems that I misplaced my trust with you, Adriano.”

  My worthless uncle tries to back away from the boss, but Marco and Drake step behind him as Nico walks to my side and quietly tells me, “When you said Lauren was Sia, dear Zio over here said ‘that’s not her.’”

  “What is this, Dino? Do you accuse me of this crime? Of killing my own brother and his wife? I did not write that note. I did not send anyone to attack Anastasia.”

  “No one said the death threat was a written note, Uncle,” I say in a cold voice. I’m vibrating with the bloodlust that’s running in my veins. He threatened my woman. Possibly killed my uncle and his wife.

  This prick will pay severely.

  He starts to stutter out his reply, no doubt trying to backpedal, but I lean forward, ready to rip his fat head off his skinny shoulders. I don’t get very far because my father lifts up his hand, stopping me, but holds out a pen to Adriano with his other hand.

  “Prove it. Write the same words on this paper. Show me you’re not the would-be-kidnapper.”

  “How could you accuse me of this, Dino? I am your brother! Your own flesh and blood. Frankie was adopted and didn’t even take the Renzetti name! Why do you avenge him and his puttana daughter but—” He doesn’t finish his sentence due to my fist slamming into his nose. The loud cracking of his nose isn’t satisfying enough. Nothing will be.

  I could kill him a thousand times and still not be satisfied.

  As he goes down to the floor like the sack of shit he is, I say, “Don’t you ever talk about my woman that way.” I don’t give a shit that Drake ushers a scared Lauren out of the room or that the capos all shift with uncertainty as I pull the underboss up by the lapels of his blazer. “Or the next time I’ll slit your fucking throat like the pig you are.”

  “Enough, Gavriel, let him go. He’ll answer for his crimes.” My father promises me.

  I shove the bastardo away from me and step back. I look at everyone in the room and they all have mixed looks. Some, like Tommy and Peter, look pissed, but it’s aimed at their stepfather. It doesn’t hurt that they hate the man too.

  Everyone else looks shocked that I laid a hand on this worthless underboss, but most of them, if not all, have complained of Adriano’s mistreatments at least once before. No one likes him, but they all respect the oath, so this situation is shaking them. Oh well, what’s done is done and this prick is going to pay. I have my father on my side and even if I didn’t, I’d still kill this fool who dared threaten my woman.

  A manic laugh starts from Adriano. He stands while trying to wipe the blood from his broken nose but only succeeds to smear it all over his face. His teeth are covered in the traitorous liquid making him look equal parts disgusting and crazy.

  “You think that by killing me you’ll be able to stop what I have put into motion? You didn’t even cull the real killer all those years ago. Yes, that’s right, fratello, I did kill Frankie and his bitch of a wife and I would have killed those two little bastards of hers if it weren’t for someone taking them away.”

  Drake and Nico are there holding me back from killing this motherfucker while whispering to me to let the man tell his secrets so we can get all the information. I know they’re right, but I can’t stop myself from seeing red. This tunnel vision has me zeroed in on this scumbag.

  “Why did you kill Frankie? Why did you do that to your own brothe
r?” My father is screaming, showing emotion I have never seen but apparently the older capos and Adriano have.

  “Ahh, there’s the Hangman everyone knows,” the scumbag says with a sneer. “Frankie was no brother to me. He and you were the golden children to Papa. You two did everything together, but the straw that broke the camel's back was when Frankie took the woman I loved. He took Liliana from me when he knew I wanted her! He filled her with those fucking bastards and ruined her!”

  Just then the door bursts open and in runs my woman. Two knives held in her hands as she charges toward my uncle. He steps back, eyes widening while everyone scrambles to stop her.

  “Don’t touch her!” I yell and everyone stops just as she thrusts out with her left hand. Adriano tries to stop the forward motion of the blade with both hands, but Sia uses his distraction to slam her switchblade, which is in her right hand, under his left rib cage.

  Fucking beautiful.

  Sensuality with a double edge blade.

  Marco is there to grab Adriano’s hands while I break the hold my brothers have on me and grab the traitor’s neck.

  Sia calmly tells him, eyes showing none of her hazel color, “You have one fucking minute to tell me where my brother is or I’ll turn the angle of this knife and pierce your lung. It’ll be a slow and painful death of drowning in your own blood.” She speaks loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her.

  To hear that my woman truly is the lost mafia principessa.

  A formidable woman who has no qualms destroying her enemies with her own hands.

  She smiles widely when Adriano cries out as she slowly pushes the other knife into his thigh. Not all the way but just an inch in. “You fucking heard her, brother. Start talking. You were doing so well before. What’s the matter? Does Frankie’s daughter scare you silent?” My father’s voice is deadly and calm, but he couldn’t hide the disgust in his voice as he said “brother.”

  I look into the eyes of my uncle and feel absolutely no love or remorse. I don’t feel pity or sympathy for him, but when I look at my woman and see the unfiltered jubilation, I feel pride.