by Jolie Damman
Chosen to be Mine
A Dark Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance
Jolie Damman
Chosen to be Mine Copyright © 2020 by Jolie Damman. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Jolie Damman
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Jolie Damman
Visit my website at https://www.amazon.com/Jolie-Damman/e/B082YG15RH%3F
“There are many types of marriage relationships and all of them can work, but none is sadder than the one that doesn't represent peace in your heart.”
— Shannon L. Alder
CONTENTS
Free Book: The Yakuza’s Captive
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
More from Jolie Damman
Challenging Destiny: An Arranged Marriage Dark Mafia Romance
Free Book: The Yakuza’s Captive
Sign up to my mailing list and read The Yakuza’s Captive, which is an 81-page long free story. It’s dark mafia romance, so it’s like many of my other works. You’ll also get access to all the extra chapters I’ve released for my books.
Chapter 1
The Chase
Alide
Iput on my running shoes and looked around. Ahhhh, Central Park wasn’t in its best conditions, but it still looked scenic. The small hills painted the landscape, the trees were almost leafless, and the squirrels were running around.
One of them, who was approaching me, bolted to a tree, where it hid.
A pity, I presumed. I was pondering getting it in my hands. It was a childhood dream of mine.
“Alide, do you really have to go jogging right now?” Rita asked.
She was behind me, sitting on a bench. I gave her a look of ‘I’m not going to change my mind’ and started to warm up. I kicked the air with my knees multiple times, and then spun my arms before stretching them.
A gush of wind kissed my thighs. I shivered. I knew Fall was here already, but I didn’t think it was going to be this cold. Should have known better, considering we were in New York and it was one of the chilliest cities in the country.
A hand tugged my tight pants for jogging. I snapped my head down and said, “Luca, what do you want?”
“I want to pee,” he said with a feeble voice.
I stopped stretching my right leg and put my hands on my waist, my heart going from 80 to 8 in seconds. Even though he was ruining my routine, I didn’t hate him. How could I? He was so little and loveable.
My lips curved up to form a tight-lipped smile, and I put my hand on his back. “Come on, big boy. I’m taking you to the restroom.”
We descended a set of stairs and reached the public restroom. In the middle of the region which delimited it was the statue of an angel. It was made of metal – copper maybe. My eyes scanned the skyline, the buildings, the people, and I thought: how much better could this city get? There was no place quite like it. Well, maybe Chicago was similar, but I hadn’t had a chance to visit it yet.
“Here we go, big boy. I’m going with you to the door, and then you’ll do your thing by yourself, okay?”
He coughed and nodded. As he walked to the men’s section of the restroom, I couldn’t help but think how much he worried me. He was supposed to be taller than that. He was 13 and had a lot of growing up to do, but still… he looked more like he was 8.
And I couldn’t believe our father left him alone with me…
I rested on a pillar that supported the entrance of the main restroom structure, and watched as people walked here and there. Not much going on in Central Park. There was the distant sound of traffic and the occasional plane flying to the JFK Airport, but other than those things, not much was happening. One could almost forget we lived in a city with over eight million people living in it.
I bolted my eyes shut and was thinking about how I could better find a job when a hand tugged my running pants again. I smiled upon looking down and going on one knee. I loved my little brother so much I’d do anything for him.
Luca’s face was so pale, though. I wished I could know what was going on with him. I had a suspicion, but didn’t share it with him or Rita yet. I didn’t want to worry them more than they already were.
I caressed his forehead and said, “Are you going to be fine with Rita? She cares about you. She’s great.”
He intersected his arms over his chest when I withdrew my hand. “But sis, I wanna play with you.”
I sighed. “I will play with you, just not right now.” I paused. “Come, I’ll take you back to Rita. She’s probably devouring an ice cream right now as we speak.”
We avoided people jogging and having fun with their partners as we made our way back to the bench. It was by a small newspaper kiosk. I asked myself who still bought those things in this day and age before having to push the question away.
I had just seen Rita, and she, indeed, was devouring an ice-cream.
She padded to us, her legs a reflection of how she had nothing to worry about. She was my caretaker and all, but that didn’t impede me from judging her when I had to. It wasn’t long ago she gave me and Luca a big scare, after all.
That night… when she had an AVC and her whole body went lifeless…
I could never forget it.
A tear menaced to come out. I couldn’t remember those things right now. It wasn’t good.
Her belly bounced as much as her legs moved while she approached us, her eyes focused on the vanilla and chocolate ice-cream only, as if it was the most delicious thing in the universe.
I put my hands on my waist when she stopped in front of us. She was going to have to explain herself to me.
Her eyes slowly spun up, and they broadened when she realized I had already come back. My posture and expression probably made her understand what was going on in my mind right now.
“Alide, it’s just one ice-cream.”
“It’s not, Rita.” I paused. “It’s much more than that. It can kill you, like it almost did that day.”
Another moment of quietness as she remembered what happened that night. She was going to launch a firework – which was one of those not-too-loud ones that explode in a delightful light spectacle in the sky – when her eyes rolled inside her head and she toppled over. I had concluded, for sure, that was the end of her.
It was a good thing we managed to get to the hospital in time. I couldn’t remember the face of the man who found me screaming as loud as I could by the sidewalk, but I wished I did. I didn’t even have time to thank him for his kindness before he drove off.
Rita sighed and expressed, “Well, I’m not going to waste this ice-cream.”
I shook my head. “You should have bought a gelato at least. It’s much better than this stuff the Americans make.”
“The closest gelato shop I know is in Little Italy, and I’m not going there just for it.” She paused. “Now, if you will excuse me.” A long look of dissatisfaction followed. “I’ve got an ice-cream to finish.”
With her hand still holding the cone, she sashayed back to the bench like what I had just said mattered nothing to her. I wasn’t scorning her for eating ice-cream, I swear. I just wanted to tell her to be cautious. I didn’t know what Luca and I would do without her.
Luca tugged my pants again, and I craned my head to look at him. “What do you want this time, little one?”
He pouted his lips, looking irritated. “I’m not little anymore.”
“That’s not what I asked, and it’s irrelevant right now. I want to know what you want.”
“To go to the zoo with you again. I want to see the other animals and stuff...”
I got on one knee one more time, and peered at his eyes. “We’ll go there soon. Not right now, but we’ll go there.” I paused, pondering if I was going to have time to jog in the park and take him to the zoo.
“Okay, we’ll go there once I’ve finished jogging. How does that sound?” I continued.
As if by a miracle, his eyes lit up. “You promise?”
I messed his hair. “I promise.”
I straightened back up and continued, “Now, stay with Rita. I’m coming back in a bit.”
“Yes, ma’am!” He said, joy in his tone.
His legs took him as fast as possible to Rita, who smiled and bulged her eyes when she noticed him coming to her at full speed. They were so adorable when they were having fun, I thought before scanning the path I was going to follow.
Go to the right, then the left, and continue along that hill, then take the right and follow the lake until you are back here.
Central Park wasn’t too complex. It was overestimated by many tourists who came here. The movies brainwashed them about it, I thought before warming up once more.
One two, three and four, I began to count before stretching my right arm, twisting my torso and kicking the air with my knees multiple times to get ready to jog. I could already feel the temperature of my body rising.
With Luca being taken care of by Rita, I could finally exercise, and I needed to keep myself in shape.
With that reflection in mind, I hopped ahead. The hop then turned into a slow, measured jog.
No need to push myself too hard doing this.
I curved a portion of the lake, went through a path along the zoo, spotted some birds flying toward the Empire State building, witnessed some squirrels as they mated, and contemplated some couples while they kissed in public.
Nothing out of the usual here. There were even people jogging with me.
I could forget about my life troubles while doing this. Being unemployed, having no life future to speak of, not knowing who my father really was, Luca and his current condition, Rita’s obesity, and all the other things which worried me…
And that’s when I spotted a couple having an argument.
It was a man with short blond hair and a woman with a red coat. Their discussion was fiery. People kept glancing at them, probably asking themselves why the hell they weren’t taking their quarrel somewhere else.
And me being me, inquisitive as always, I couldn’t help but halt right beside them.
“I can’t take being with you anymore! I can’t take a stroll with a friend of mine without you thinking I’m cheating on you!” The woman shouted, her cheeks red like lava.
Jesus. Maybe I shouldn’t be here.
But, too late now, I supposed when the couple’s heads snapped in my direction.
“What are you doing here?” The man asked, spilling his hatred at me.
“I’m just curious. Why are you arguing?”
Oh fuck, that was a dreadful question. I shouldn’t have worded it like that.
“Does it matter?” The woman rebuked, making me flinch and think, once again, why the hell did I even decide to meddle with their shit. Did I think I could help these people or what?
“No… I guess it doesn’t…” I apologized, walking away from there with both of my hands in front of me, making a shield of sorts.
The man threw his finger at her face and their heated, loud discussion recommenced. Some people shook their heads, probably thinking I shouldn’t have involved myself. I was thinking the same thing, to be honest.
Grrrr. Why did I think I could have done anything about their dispute? Stop being nosy, Alide, I thought to myself before resuming my jogging.
The wind kept brushing my face as I jogged along the main lake, watching the cars as they went down the roads, the people in the balconies of their apartments, and the planes while they ascended in the overcast sky.
One of my dreams was to visit Italy. My family was from there, but we were pretty poor here.
I just wished so much to get to know Rome, Milan and the Vatican.
That’s when, all of a sudden, my eyes picked up some dollar bills in the grass. There were three of them, and they looked legit. They didn’t look like those dollar bills found in toy sets. Those looked as fake as they could be.
Those in the grass, though, had to be from someone who had lost them somehow.
I stopped, looked around, and squatted by the dollar bills. I picked them up and scanned the park once more. I knew I shouldn’t be worried, but my heart was in my throat nonetheless. What if the dollar bills were from a dangerous man?
Also, what if he then intended to kill me? That’s not something I wanted to find myself in. The last thing I needed was someone hunting me down because of his money.
I peeked around again, my head going from 0 to almost 180 degrees leisurely. I perused the whole area, watched the people near me – and also the ones far away – before making a decision.
Despite being poor and Luca needing his medicine, I wasn’t about to steal money from someone who’d lost it. Maybe the person who dropped these bills really needed them and was going to come back here… eventually.
Perhaps, someone else was going to come here and snatch these bills instead of me. Whatever was going to happen, it wasn’t my problem.
It was with that consideration in mind I stood up and continued my jogging. No point trying to be the hero or the villain when I could barely live as things were.
And if I were to succeed in life, it would be through my own merits, after all.
I recalled some of the instances Rita said I never worried about anything. Little did she know that wasn’t true. I was with my heart in my throat the whole time when I had those bills in my hands. I almost thought they were cursed or something.
And I definitely made the right choice.
Angelo
I took a deep breath and opened the door to my father’s office. I had been here many times before, but still had to take in the details of it another time. The portraits hung from the walls. They bore photos and moments of me, dad and my little brother.
Vinicio… I never thought things would turn out the way they did to you, I speculated before my throat clogged up.
Not now, I advised myself. Don’t make father think you feel sorry for him, or else he will ask his men to kill you as well. He’s paranoid. He thinks everyone’s a traitor.
His office was quite old school. It didn’t have a window; just one AC unit to bring the air in and out. Everything – or better, almost everything – was made of hardwood, and the dominant color of the place was a medium tone of brown.
He had a warm, orange-ish table lamp for his studies, and on his desk were a bunch of documents and other sheets of paper. He didn’t use a computer, and to be frank, he didn’t need one. Despite being paranoid to the point of killing some of his men when one of them as much as looked at him the wrong way, he was smart.
No wonder he managed to build the family the way it was no
w and avoid the authorities, who for sure were still looking for enough evidence to jail him.
The door closed behind me with a gentle thud. Dad raised his head and said, “Son, I’ve heard Vinicio was spotted in Central Park. Ask Prudenzio for details. He will tell you everything you need to know.”
His words disconcerted me.
“But dad, is there nothing that can change your mind? Vinicio is my younger brother. I still care about him...”
He banged the desk. “Enough of that, Angelo. I taught you better than this. Vinicio is a traitor. He will pay for the choice he made.”
“But how can you say that?! He hasn’t ratted you out to the cops.”
A moment of hiatus as his cold and yet, fiery eyes locked with mine again. “He chose his path. You know what happened, and I’m not going to repeat myself.”
I shook my head and walked out of there, not believing I had to put up with this shit. I really wished to make father understand Vinicio did nothing of what he’s accusing him of.
I then walked through the part of the restaurant where we had the tables, and the guests were already coming in.
Some of them greeted me, and I greeted them back. I guessed they knew who I was. By being the Don’s underboss, people here respected me, and my actions, so far, had been speaking for themselves.
These people here feared me more than anything, to be honest.
I strode out of the restaurant. The sign, which was a plaque with letters painted in green, white and red – the colors of the Italian flag – hung just above the entrance. People were still coming in for their pizzas and other Italian delicacies.
My father wasn’t only good at running shady operations, he was also an expert on making his restaurant flourish here in New York. Little Italy would never be the same without him and the Bello Italiano.
My eyes registered another sign. It was just at the entrance of the neighborhood. Welcome to Little Italy, it read. The welcome part brought a smile to my face. Welcome was not an appropriate word for this neighborhood. It should be more like STAY THE FUCK AWAY.
