Inheriting A Mafia

by K. L Hart

  “I can teach you to shoot if you don’t know already,” I snap my eyes up to meet his,

  “Thanks, might need a lesson or two!” I find myself giving him a genuine smile.

  “I will make some time, maybe next week?”

  “Sure!”

  “I best go, I have some work to do downstairs,” The strange awkwardness between us is back and have to stop myself from fidgeting.

  “Yeah, me too! Thanks again!” Matteo nods his head and heads for the door, I walk around my desk and place my gun in the drawer.

  “Sienna,” Matteo says and I look up at him,

  “About last night, I...” He’s cut off by Baxter knocking on the open door,

  “Boss, I have the designer here, is now a good time?” I nod and look back to Matteo so he can finish what he was saying but instead I watch him walk out of the room.

  “Miss Vellucci, I am Christina, it is very nice to meet you!” The woman dressed in a really nice pant suit walks in and holds her hand out for me to shake, I do and gesture for her to sit.

  “Call me Sienna, so what do you have for me?”

  Chapter Five

  I yawn as I walk to the front door my coffee in hand and answer it, I am handed an envelope by some guy who, without a word, spins and walks off. I use my leg to shut the door and open the thin package with my teeth, a disk slides out with a note, ‘your evidence’. I head to Daddy’s office and I put the disk into the iMac, I sip my coffee and press play when the disk has loaded. I watch as my brother hands over documents to some guy, and then they man hug like they are best buddies. The video skips to another clip where the guy Luca was so pally with gets out of a blacked-out car, he stands there for a few minutes until someone walks out of the building in front of him! Wait no! That's Daddy! I see the man get his gun out and aim it for my father, then my dad crumples to the ground! I stop the video and pull out my cell.

  “Please tell me this is not true!” My voice trembles,

  “I am sorry, but it is true and it has been verified that the documents Luca handed over was your fathers' itinerary for Chicago, among other things!” Uncle Rocco says.

  “Find him, Now!” I bellow, Anger fills me and soon turns into rage!

  “I will find him; you concentrate on everything else! Put that disk in the Vault, your fingerprint should be coded into the security scanner!” I just hang up. I throw the disk in the desk drawer and decide to deal with it later, I need to hit the gym and release some of this anger.

  Over an hour of running and I finally feel somewhat calmer, I grab the disk and head to the basement, our family vault is a fully fledged bank vault, circular door and everything! I press my finger to the scanner and when the green light appears, I turn the huge handle and the heavy door opens. It takes a lot of effort to get the door open enough for me to slide in but I manage. I put the disk on a shelf and look at everything in here, there are shelves and drawers that cover each wall and six islands that are in the middle of the floor with drawers in too, without even looking in the drawers I can see diamond necklaces, valuable art, money and weapons. I never was allowed in here before and I did not expect this. I spot an envelope on one of the islands, I walk over and grab it, I flip it over and my name is written on it in my Daddy’s writing. I rip the envelope open and find a card, ‘Happy 18th Birthday to my Princess’ inside the card is a little message as there always is in my birthday cards, ‘Sienna, you have grown in to a fine young woman, I cannot put into words how proud I am of you, you are strong, smart and more capable than most men I know! You deserve everything you want in life and more. You will always be my baby girl no matter how old you get! I love you Princess. Daddy xxx’. I swipe a tear away and clutch the card to my chest!

  “I love you too Daddy!” I whisper.

  “Hold your gun like this and aim for the target, expect a small kickback be firm but not solid!” Matteo's frustration is obvious, like he is bored of teaching me already, I do as he says and miss completely, I spot the roll of Matteo’s eyes and I grind my teeth, I will do this! I shoot again, and manage to hit the paper! It takes me a whole thirty minutes of retries before I actually get the target!

  “Good!”

  “You can go if you want, I can practice on my own!”

  “I said I would teach you and I will!” He snaps his gaze to mine; I nod.

  “Let’s grab a drink and give your arm a rest!” He has turned and walked away before I have even put the safety on my gun, prick!

  I sit on the picnic bench outside another warehouse in the middle of nowhere, apparently this is where we train new men, there is a gym, a boxing ring, a shooting range and some more crap I don’t really care about!

  “Here,” Matteo throws a bottle of water to me, I catch it, unscrew the lid and drink half of it in one go, who knew shooting was such hard work!

  “How’s the Casino?” I ask,

  “Yeah, Its’s good! When will you be working from there again?” The designer got to work the day after our visit, that was three days ago, so I have been working from home!

  “Tomorrow or Tuesday! Have you seen it?”

  “Yeah, it looks alright so far!” He looks away and out across the landscape, the awkwardness between us hasn’t eased at all, in fact it seems to have gotten worse since he gave me the gun, it's strange I have never felt awkward with anyone before and its messing with my head. I struggle to even look at him and I think it’s the same for him! I can't do this until I turn Twenty-one! It will drive me insane, maybe I need to have as little contact as possible with this guy! I'm pulled out of my thoughts of Matteo when my phone buzzes in my jeans,

  “Hello,” I answer

  “Boss! This is Sam, you are needed at the whore house, one of our girls has been abused and Miss Cora Isn’t here! The men do not know how to stop the girl from crying!”

  “I’ll be there in ten!” I say, hanging up the phone and sliding back in my jeans. I get up from the bench and Matteo shoots me a confused look,

  “Everything OK?”

  “Duty Calls!” I answer and start walking towards my Chauffer driven car. Matteo starts getting up from the bench,

  “You need me?”

  “Mateo If I wanted your help, I would have asked for it!”

  Sam greets me outside the Whore house, he is a big burley man, mid-twenties with a shaven head, no wonder the girl is scared shitless!

  “Take me to her!” Sam leads me through the house, it’s a nice-looking place, clean and airy! I'm taken into Cora’s office and I immediately see the girl, she is covered in her own blood, dirt all over her and obvious cuts and bruises everywhere! Her dress is ripped and her hair is matted, she is sat on the floor, her knees brought up to her chest, with her head resting on them, I can hear her crying and Anger builds in me! I turn my angry self to Sam and let him see just how much he has fucked up!

  “Sam! Run the shower and get the girl some clean fucking clothes! Are you lot Morons, you don’t leave her like that!” I shout. Sam's face falls and he hurry's out of the room to do as I told him, I slowly walk over to the girl and crouch in front of her.

  “Hey, I am Sienna! I am going to help you; can you tell me your name?” she wipes her nose on her arm and looks up at me,

  “Hayley!”

  “How old are you, Hayley?”

  “I'm Nineteen.” her crying has stopped and she is hiccupping as she speaks.

  “Hayley. I am going to ask you some questions, just nod and shake your head to answer them OK?” she nods, good girl!

  “Were you beaten and raped?” She nods another tear falling from her face,

  “Was it anyone from here, Staff or Customer?” She shakes her head,

  “Do you want to press charges?” She shakes her head.

  “listen to me, you are going to get in the shower, you are going to clean yourself up and get dressed! You are safe now, you will be taken to the Vellucci resort and given a room! You will not be pressured into working here! Unless you are ready an
d willing! But I need to know who did this too you! I need to protect the other girls!”

  “The Strip Club on Spring Mountain Road, The Diamond Lounge. I walk past there to get to my sister's house, the men on the door grabbed me and took me down an alley and said that this was punishment for taking business away from them and I was to pass the message on to every whore here!” Hayley’s voice cracks as she talks!

  “I will sort this!” I Storm out of the room, breezing straight past Sam,

  “Boss, where are you going?”

  “To make the bastards pay!” I hear Sam give another man the stuff he was carrying and run down the hall to catch up with me.

  “What are you doing?” I ask him as he falls in step just behind me and to the left.

  “Boss or not, I won’t let you go in alone!” I get in the car and he does to.

  “The Diamond Lounge!” I say to the driver,

  “Shit! Boss, you sure about this?” Sam asks.

  “Yup!” I say popping the P. Sam furiously taps on the screen of his phone,

  “Backup will be around the corner, just in case we need it!” He says and I nod! The journey makes my anger boil inside me as I wait to kick the fuck off, I promised myself I would not tolerate rape by the Vellucci goons but I'm amending that to anyone who is on my turf! The Car stops just up the road from the Diamond Lounge and the door opens, a pissed off Matteo pokes his head in and ushers me to move over, he gets in and shuts the door,

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed!”

  “Fuck off Matteo! This needs to be handled, So I am handling it!” Fucking Sam grassed on me and now he is sitting there like he is invisible! Prick!

  “You can’t just go around picking fights with powerful men because a prostitute got hurt! It's not worth it!” I swing my glare to him and poke him in the chest.

  “One, that girl works for me, it should be known you do not touch what is mine! Two, the young girls who live in and around my turf should be able to walk around without fear of being beaten and raped! Three, I am going to show the scumbags of this fucking city who is boss around here!”

  “Fine! You’re the Boss, right?” Unfortunately for you Matteo!

  “What’s the plan?” Sam finally speaks,

  “We are going to walk in the front door and have a little chat with the Owner!” I say.

  All three of us get out of the car when the driver parks outside the door of The Diamond Lounge, the bouncer gives us a funny look as we all walk past him, but does not try and stop us! We go through the dingy hallway, and go through the door with staff only written on it, the place smells like stale smoke and sweat and I struggle not to wretch. I find the manager's office and knock on the door,

  “What?” The man bellows from inside the room, I swing the door open and storm in.

  “Who the fuck are you? And what do you want?” he asks, he’s a dirty old man with eyes that roam over me in a way that creeps me out! He puts his palms on the desk and stands so he's leaning over slightly as his gaze pauses at my breasts.

  “I am Sienna Vellucci and I think you know why I'm here!”

  “Ahh, the new Boss! How nice to put a face to the name!” His eyes finally meet mine.

  “I assume you are here about the little problem we had with one of your girls earlier today!” He says, acting all innocent. I reach boiling point, without even thinking I grab the gun Matteo gave me which I have tucked into the band of my jeans and point it at the waste of space in front of me! His eyes go wide and they look from the gun to my eyes and I know he sees the determination to get rid of him in my gaze.

  “I do not like men who order people to beat and rape women, I will not tolerate it anywhere in or around my turf! So, your choice is simple, I pull this trigger or you can walk away! Sign this shithole of a club over to me and never step foot in Nevada again. The prick starts to laugh, so I slowly flick the safety off the gun, his laugh disappears and I see the gulp he tries to hide.

  “Clocks ticking!”

  “You wouldn’t! I am not giving you my club!” He glares at me. I can see the vein popping out of his neck and know I will win, this guy is a pussy, only has power because of money, no backbone to back it up! I smirk at him,

  “If you don’t, I will shoot you in the head and burn the place to the ground! I am giving you the option to stay alive!” There’s some shuffling and grunts from outside the door, two of the club's security guards are thrown in the room! Matteo and Sam follow them in, guns pointed to their heads. I look back to the club owner and raise an eyebrow, waiting for him to make his decision. I can see his brain working overtime as he thinks through his options, I seriously hope he is not stupid enough to risk his life!

  “Fine!”

  “Good, I will get my people to sort the paperwork to sign this dump over to me and then you can get on your merry little way! I will need you to get every member of your staff here immediately for an emergency meeting, Sam gets rid of any punters and shut the place down!” I give out my orders casually, Sam happily moves out of the room and the ex-club owner grinds his teeth as he pulls out his phone.

  I'm casually sitting on the bar in the main area of the club, my legs are crossed and next to me the guy is signing his club away! Amazing what fear can achieve, I have just gained a business worth six hundred thousand dollars because the guy is scared! And so he should be, giving orders to beat and rape a nineteen year old girl is worth taking his life in my eyes, this though will set an example, if I took the scumbags life numerous women would be out of a job, the men who actually committed the crime would get away after hearing about their bosses murder and I would have become a murderer, I have no doubts that I will have to kill someone at some point, it comes with the territory but I am not ready for that, I am not ready to have the guilt consume me! Instead, I have managed to keep some slither of innocence, make a stand, prove myself as the boss, gain a business that will be profitable and send a message to the other scumbags that happen to be on my turf! He slides the document over too me and I snatch it and inspect it quickly before I fold it and pass it too Matteo to keep hold of!

  “You have two hours to go home and grab the shit you need and get out of town! You step foot back into Nevada and you will die!” He hangs his head down and leaves quietly escorted by two of my men to make sure he does as he was told!

  I watch curiously at the divide between the staff here, the girls are all on one side of the room with only a few boys and the big men are all on the other!

  “Matteo can you take the men outside, I need to have a little chat with the girls!” He gives me a curious look but does as I ask and within minutes it’s just me and around twenty nervous girls.

  “Girls!” I beckon them over! They all come over and form a semi-circle around me.

  “Do you know who I am?” They all shake their heads as I expected.

  “I am Sienna Vellucci, I own the Vellucci resort and casino.” I tell them, some of the girls' eyes go wide as things click into place for them, everyone in Vegas knows of my father and hear things about the less than legal things my family are involved in.

  “I now own this club and I will look after you providing you follow the rules, I do not want you girls taking drugs or being under the influence of drugs while on the premises, you do not steal from me, you do not give extras to customers, you can have two alcoholic drinks when on shift, after you have finished you can drink what you like provided, they are paid for, you will all have tabs which the customers can put drinks on for you if they wish! Lastly anything you are not comfortable with from another member of staff or customer you tell me or someone I appoint to deal with that shit immediately! You follow these rules and this will be a happy and safe place for you to work, I will not have my girls mistreated!” The girls nod and some look relieved! What the fuck was going on here!

  “Is there anything I need to know? Any staff members I need to deal with now?” The oldest of the girl's steps forward she looks late twenties and is very
pretty but thinner than she should be, in fact all the girls look extremely thin.

  “The only guys who haven't hurt one of us are the two-bar staff that stood with us earlier and Craig, he is a security guard but he is rarely here because he doesn’t allow the others to touch us.”

  “When you say hurt, do you mean punches or more sexual acts?”

  “Both!” She says and I grind my molars together!

  “You will never have to deal with them again!”

  “Anything else I need to know?”

  “We are paid three dollars an hour, plus twenty percent of our tips, we buy our own outfits and have to work every day either day or night shift sometimes both.” My mouth falls open, no wonder these girls look half starved, they are barely making enough to eat!

  “You all have two weeks off! The club is shut until it's been refurbed, I am changing your pay, you will now be on eight dollars an hour and you keep one hundred percent of your tips! I will be hiring more girls too, I will give you all eighty hours pay to cover you for the next two weeks which works out to around six hundred and forty dollars, I want you to eat, rest and get healthy! Two weeks today I want you all here at Ten AM, we will all sit here and shop for new costumes online, paid for by me! Then you will have time to rehearse and create new routines, I will have a choreographer here to teach you all some burlesque routines and we will change this club from a seedy dump to a high-class club together!” The smiles that start gracing their faces are instant, they have some hope!

  “Before you go, write your names, numbers and addresses down so I can contact you if I need too, you need me, you contact the Resort and ask for Baxter he will know to put you through to me immediately!” I say and with a wave of my hand they scatter! I wait for them to leave before I call for the men!

  The men all stand before me in a straight line, I called Henderson before they came in and had some more of my men sent down here, they are all scattered around the room making sure the vile humans in front of me don’t touch me, not that Matteo or Sam would let them! I walk up and down the line inspecting every single one of the men stood there!