The Mancini Saga (Book #1) I.O.U.

by April M. Reign

  “What is it, Daniel?”

  “My mother passed away last year. Mia had searched and found both our parents shortly after she left here. She told them who she was, and went to visit them once a year.

  “My mom had a stroke, and died. I wasn’t there for her. I disappeared when I was a teenager, and she never knew what happened to me.” Tears spilled over his eyes, his heart crushed. “How did I let this happen? Who have I been all these years?”

  Kyle saw the mental separation happen at lightning speed before his very eyes. It was surreal to see them finally show emotion and concern, instead of their usual robotic explanations and feelings.

  “Dad, Mia told both your parents, she was working to get you guys out of here.”

  “But now, I’m too late. I’m too late to tell my mother I love her and let her know I’m okay.” Both his hands were clenched, the veins in his arms protruding. He swallowed hard.

  “What about my mom, Daniel?” Angela hesitantly asked.

  He read the letter further down. “Your mom is okay. She is in a retirement home.” Daniel snickered, “Mia says that your mom has a seventy-seven-year-old boyfriend that shares picnic lunches with her at the home.”

  “We have to get out of here, so I can see her. Pack your things, we have to go now,” she said irrationally.

  Daniel stopped her and sat her back on the couch. “We can’t just walk out of here, Angie. He won’t let anyone leave here. And now with his new plan, he will try to bring all his followers in deeper with him. If we try to leave, he will have us put somewhere where no one will find us until we are forced to commit suicide with everyone else. Or be killed if we refuse to comply. He won’t let anyone walk out of here. It’s going to be another Jonestown.”

  “What’s that?” Kyle asked.

  “A mass suicide. A massacre, too, for those who tried to run.”

  Kyle’s mouth dropped open.

  “What do we do?” she cried.

  “I will send a letter to Mia, telling her it’s an emergency.” Kyle hugged his mom, “I will tell her what James plans to do. She will rescue us. She will be here; she’s been waiting for this day.”

  “Okay, Kyle, you and I are going to put together a plan and then you write Mia a letter and tell her everything. Will she get the letter in time?” Daniel asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ve only sent two letters a year to each other. We thought that would be safer. We didn’t want to put Mia or us in danger. If James found out that we were communicating, he would be livid. I will take it to the drop-off place, and check every day to make sure it gets picked up for delivery.”

  Daniel started to pace back and forth. “If she doesn’t get the letter, we will have to come up with a plan B. We’ll work on that after we get the letter out to her.”

  After going back and forth for hours over the details of leaving the Compound, Kyle went into his room and started writing a detailed, urgent letter to his sister.

  Mia,

  We have a crisis here. James is putting together a mass suicide in his honor. This suicide will take place in exactly a month from the date of this letter. There are few details at this moment except that he will give us all a time when it gets closer. Mom and Dad have finally broken through the brainwashing they have been under all these years. They are on board. Please, put together an escape plan, Mia. There isn’t much time for any of us.

  It will not just be mom, dad, and me. We need to rescue my girlfriend and her family, too, if not everyone here.

  Meet us here at the Compound the night before the planned suicide. Dad and I will distract the guard at the gate. Be here at ten p.m. We will take care of this end; you take care of that end.

  I love you, and can’t wait to see you.

  Kyle

  Kyle put the letter in an envelope, sealed it, and rushed it out to the drop-off area. Instead of running back home, he ran to Sara’s house to tell her the plan.

  If there could be a problem, there was only one he could see happening: Sara’s parents blowing the whistle. According to Sara’s phone call, they were excited about the news. This was their chance to prove their faith and loyalty to James.

  Kyle waited patiently at the front door for someone to answer. When he heard glass breaking and furniture crashing, he swung open the front door and stormed into the house. Sara lay battered, bruised, and bloody on the floor near the door. Her parents, to Kyle’s horror, were holding objects to throw at her.

  “She won’t ruin this for us—and neither will you!” Sara’s mother hissed at Kyle. He had never seen anything like it; they had gone completely mad.

  Kyle ran in the house and covered Sara’s body with his. He picked her up in his arms and ran for the front door, removing her immediately from the house. He turned around, knowing he had to keep them calm otherwise; they might blow the whistle on Kyle’s rebellious family.

  “Are you insane? This is your daughter! When you can talk rationally, she’ll be at my house, recovering. We don’t want to ruin anything; we just want to understand the plan,” he said through his teeth. He had to lie, or else his family and Sara would find themselves made into an example by their leader. Sara’s parents were under James’s power, and deeply so.

  Chapter Eight

  Carlo knew that he had to apologize to Mia for flagging down a cab and sending her home yesterday. Even after he reacted unfavorably to her reluctance to even tell him a story about her family, she had called and thanked him for the day. He had never met anyone like her. He realized that not only was she beautiful and intelligent, she was also understanding.

  He spent the evening thinking about her. She was an exceptional person that didn’t need to feed off anyone’s emotions. Even while he was upset, she remained caring and thoughtful. She had an inner strength he had before never seen in a person. Mia had a real understanding of herself without the need for validation. No wonder he was falling hard for her.

  He stood in front of her apartment door for twenty minutes, silently rehearsing what he would say to get back in her good graces. He came to terms with his feelings for her, finally admitting that he was falling in love for the first time in his life. But he had questions that he needed answered, personal questions about her life. He wondered if Mia was capable of giving him a thorough answer.

  When he finally knocked on her door, his stomach started to ache. There were three things that he immediately noticed when she opened the front door: first, the smell of freshly brewed coffee; second, how beautiful she looked in a pair of sweats and cotton tee shirt; but the third was in her actions. Mia smiled and leaned in to hug him, an act he did not expect after yesterday.

  While her soft, slender body pressed against his, he softly spoke, “Mia, I’m sorry about last night. I want to learn about you, but when it seems like you’re hiding from me, I get frustrated.”

  She tilted back and looked into his eyes, keeping close enough to feel his warm breath on her face. Her gentle hands caressed his back while she stared into his eyes, “It’s okay. We both have a lot to learn about each other and we will, but it may take some time.”

  He was grateful that she understood. He took his left hand from behind his back and handed her a long-stemmed, red rose.

  The sides of her mouth twitched up, and she quickly pressed the petals of the rose to her nose. The scent was soft and pleasant. She walked into the kitchen and poured Carlo a cup of coffee. He watched her graceful movements.

  Finally, she spoke, handing him the roasted, hot coffee with her right hand while she continued to hold the rose to her nose with her left. “I’m going to share stories of my life with you. You deserve to know all about me before you continue to ask me out on dates.”

  “Mia, your past won’t be the deciding factor on my feelings for you,” he said, putting down his coffee. He kneeled beside her chair and took her hand, pressing it to his lips. He knew something deeply plagued her; he could see it in her eyes.

  “Don’t be so sure.” She
smiled. “Whether it does, or doesn’t, you have the right to know my past and I have an obligation to tell you.”

  “If it’s hard for you to talk about it, then I’ll be patient, and you can tell me slowly.”

  “No,” she said looking down into her coffee cup. She was falling in love with him, and if he rejected her because of her past, she would rather it happen sooner instead of later. She ran her hand down the side of his face, admiring his stunning looks.

  His dark brown, wavy hair sat just above the collar of his shirt. His high cheekbones and square jaw were the perfect shape for his defined facial features. Yes, she was definitely falling in love with this man. He had already shared so much of his life with her—now it was her turn to share with him. Mia wanted to prepare a special night where she could devote her time and attention in revealing her past to him.

  “Are you busy Tuesday night?” she asked.

  “Nope, that’s my night off.”

  “Good, how about dinner here? I’ll try to wow you with my cooking to soften the blow of my past.” She nervously giggled.

  “Yes, without a doubt, I’ll be here,” he said, leaning in and pressing his lips against hers—then he pulled away.

  “That reminds me, I want to ask you if you’ll do me a huge favor.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We have a family dinner every Sunday night, and well, I would feel honored if you’d join me for dinner tonight at my mother’s house.”

  “Oh, Carlo. Do you think it’s too soon?”

  “No, absolutely not! Listen, you mean a lot to me. You are beautiful, intelligent, caring, and I want to introduce you to my family. Please go with me.”

  After only moments, she smiled, “Of course, the honor is mine.” Then without thinking, she wrapped her hand around the back of his head and pulled him in to her lips. For the first time, she ran her hands down his muscular chest, etched and outlined with bulging muscles.

  Her involuntary moan against his lips caused Carlo to take in more of her. He slid his hands to the sides of her neck, while he kept his mind focused on keeping his hands above her collarbone. If he placed his hands anywhere else, he would ravish her—and he would not push her into doing something that she was not ready to do. He decided, he could wait.

  ***

  When Carlo pulled his car up in front of his mother’s house, he felt uneasy—not worried about them liking Mia, but more so about whether she’d like his family. His brothers could be rowdy, but they always meant well.

  Carlo opened Mia’s car door and held his hand out to her. She stepped out and hugged him, “Thank you for inviting me.”

  He wrapped his hand around hers and started toward the front porch. The small, white house looked weathered and worn with chipped paint and areas with rust along the outside. A large porch adorned the front of the home. As they walked hand-in-hand up the pathway toward the house, Carlo’s four brothers were sitting on the porch talking. They stopped and stared at Mia.

  Carlo leaned in and whispered in Mia’s ear, “No one will bite you. My brothers are quite harmless. And if Giovanni gives you a hard time, you tell me.” He squeezed her hand.

  Before they made it to the bottom of the stairs, Carlo’s brothers were already giving him a hard time. “Carlo, I know this beautiful woman isn’t with you. You would have no choice but to pay someone that pretty to be with you,” his brothers laughed.

  “Okay, Antonio, don’t let me get started with you,” Carlo said, smiling at his siblings. “Let me introduce you to everyone. This guy right here, with the first joke of the night, is my twenty-four-year-old brother, Antonio. He is the Broadway actor in the family.”

  Antonio grabbed Mia’s hand and kissed the back of it while he bowed to her. She could not help but laugh. “Hi, Antonio, it’s nice to meet you.”

  Carlo continued with the introductions, “This here is my twenty-year-old brother, Angelo. He is in college and wants to be a high school biology teacher.”

  Angelo remained standing where he was. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mia,” he said, properly.

  “This shaved-head-looking fool is my jar-head brother, Giovanni. He is nineteen and just got back from boot camp. He’s our Marine and will be stationed in North Carolina.”

  Giovanni did not look up at Mia. He was texting someone on his cellular phone. It was a luxury he was not allowed in boot camp, which kept him out of touch with a girl he liked. Being text-starved somehow corrupted his manners. He nodded and kept texting. Carlo leaned in to Mia and apologized for him.

  “Last, but not least, is my brother, Emilio. He is a senior in high school and quite an athlete.”

  Emilio gave Mia a fresh, boyish smile, and walked over to hug her. “You must be special to my brother because he’s never brought anyone to our family dinners. It’s nice to meet you,” Emilio said. He then leaned over and hugged his older brother.

  “It was nice to meet all of you,” Mia said as Carlo led her into the house. Her stomach was in knots. To meet one family member is a lot, but to meet an entire football team of family members is unnerving. She could not help but notice how handsome all his brothers were. Each of them possessed similarities to Carlo yet had their own look. Emilio was the age of her brother, and for a brief moment, she allowed herself to feel a tinge of sadness that she had missed watching Kyle grow up.

  Mia could hear female voices coming from the Kitchen. Carlo walked hand-in-hand with Mia through the kitchen door. He chuckled when he saw the shocked look on his mother’s face. Carlo leaned in and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Mama, this is Mia and Mia this is my mother, Isabelle.”

  “Oh, Carlo, Lei è bella, (She is beautiful),” she whispered.

  Mia understood her and slightly blushed. “Grazie, Mrs. Mancini.”

  Shocked, Carlo’s head snapped over to look at Mia. “Spanish and Italian?” he questioned.

  Mia inconspicuously leaned in to Carlo and whispered, “German and French, too,” she winked at him and then giggled.

  “Yeah, we need that dinner on Tuesday night,” he whispered into her ear as he chuckled.

  “Parli italiano? (Do you speak Italian?)” Isabelle asked.

  “Solo un po, (Only a little),” she explained.

  Carlo then continued to introduce Mia to the rest of the family. “This beautiful girl over here is my baby sister, Aldabella. We call her Bella. She’s in ninth grade.”

  “Hi Bella, it’s nice to meet you.”

  Bella glanced up at Mia while she cut tomatoes. She forced a faint smile, “Hey,” she said, unenthusiastically.

  “And this beautiful young woman is Angelo’s girlfriend, Janna.”

  “Carlo, you’re too kind. It’s nice to meet you, Mia. I would shake your hand, but I’m a mess right now,” Janna smiled, holding up food-covered hands.

  Carlo leaned in to Mia and whispered, “Would you like to go outside with me?”

  “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll see if the women need my help.”

  Carlo dismissed himself from the women and went out to face his feisty brothers. Although they went to Carlo like a father, they treated him like their brother.

  “Okay, Carlo, we want details. Who is she, where did you meet her, and are there any more like her?” Antonio laughed.

  “First of all, that woman is one-of-a-kind and second, none of you would be worthy enough to have a woman like her.”

  “Oh, no, he didn’t,” Antonio said to his brothers as they roared in laughter.

  “Women like her are a dime a dozen,” Giovanni mentioned, still staring at his cell phone, texting back and forth with someone.

  Carlo realized just how much he had fallen for Mia when Giovanni’s statement angered him. He walked over and took Giovanni’s cell phone out of his hands.

  “Hey, what are you doing?”

  “Just because you enlisted in the military and made it through basic training, does not give you the right to talk shit about Mia! You got here two weeks ago and ever
ything out of your mouth was yes Ma’am and no, sir. Have you already lost all the manners they instilled? Also, at some point today, you need to apologize to Mia for the way you greeted her when I introduced you.”

  Giovanni looked at his brother intently. He knew he was right; boot camp had trained him better than that. But he was home and around his brothers and using such appropriateness did not apply with his brothers, especially after two weeks of being home. Giovanni got up from his chair with a sour look on his face. He took both his hands and threw them into Carlo’s chest, pushing him backwards.

  “Oh, really, Giovanni? Are you sure you want to go there with me?” Carlo asked with his fists clenched at his side. Carlo’s strength far exceeded any of his brothers.