Innocent (Omertà Book 1)

by Anna Widzisz

  The front door opened and Lynette heard her father’s voice. It could never be mistaken with anyone else’s. It made everyone shiver. Deep and dangerous. As if he was about to give the order to kill everyone.

  Normally, when she was younger she would go to greet him, except nowadays they weren’t as close as before. They barely even talked since her mother’s death. He was working more and didn’t have time to take care of the family that he had left. Business and Famiglia – those were the most important things to him. The time for them to go for rides to amusement parks and fishing was over. And even though Rosalia tried to convince Lynette that she was still her father’s little girl she no longer saw it like that. A responsibility - yes.

  As she heard her name, her head snapped toward the entrance. A tall man with perfectly-styled short, black hair was standing there. Jason Carnovale. He was one of Severo’s soldiers and the only one she really liked. He was only twenty-three years old and had become a Consigliere for the Capo a year ago. It made him the youngest Made Man to occupy such an important position in the Famiglia. He was the boss’ right hand, advising and helping him when needed. His main job was to be a representative during meetings with other famiglias and a negotiator. It made the Consigliere the third most important person in the mafia.

  However, for Lynette he was like an older brother. Extremely important part of her life. Despite his many responsibilities, he always makes time for her. She can tell him everything knowing that he would never judge her. Just listen and advise as he did for Severo.

  The girl hadn’t seen him since she’d left for Palermo.

  “Hello,” she greeted the man and hugged him tightly. A quick gesture since Jason never let himself show any emotion around other people. Even if it was just Rosalia in the kitchen with them. When they were alone things were a little bit different.

  ”How have you been, Sco?” he asked, smiling.

  He rarely used her name. It had always been Sco, which he’d come up with shortly after they’d first met. It was short for scoiattolo, meaning squirrel in Italian. Lynette complained a lot about her hair saying it should be much darker, seeing as she was Sicilian. In reality, it was an auburn color and sometimes it even looked as if she was a redhead. The nickname was meant to annoy the girl, but she quickly found it surprisingly pleasing.

  “Alright, but I’m glad to be back home.” She shrugged. “Are you going to stay for dinner?”

  “No. I still have a few things to take care of. But I will see you tomorrow. Your father wants me to drive you to school for a while.”

  Lynette smiled. “Really?”

  Severo had always denied her request for Jason to drive her. He said that his Consigliere was too busy to do that. Which was a total lie. Of course, she knew that the mafia comes first, but if the Capo asked it of Carnovale, he would obey and find time for Lynette. Severo just didn’t like her relationship with his soldier. And as much as he wanted to forbid their friendship the Consigliere was the only person who could bring back the smile to his daughter’s face. It was only because of Jason that Lynette wasn’t still spending all her days in bed after her mother’s death. So, as much as he despised the idea of them spending time together, he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it.

  “Sì. I will be waiting at seven-thirty tomorrow in front of the house then.” He looked at the clock on the wall and left, saying goodbye to Rosalia and Severo along the way.

  Lynette was really happy about the news, but she was not naïve enough to think that it was nothing more than just a sudden change of heart on her father’s behalf. Something must have happened for Severo to give his Consigliere such an order. Assigning Jason to the job was the Capo’s way of tightening security around her. No one would challenge the man’s capabilities.

  She remembered yesterday’s message from the unknown number, wondering whether it had something to do with it. But she pegged it for a stupid joke made by someone from school. She had no doubt about it and decided not to dwell on it. At least she got what she wanted.

  Doesn’t matter why.

  It would be those same exact words coming from Severo, if she were to ask him about the change in drivers. Not having to spend another awkward car ride with Ricci was a blessing and it made her day infinitely better.

  CHAPTER 4

  Lynette

  It didn’t take long for another rumor to start when she showed up with Jason the next day. Such change gave students a greatly needed dose of gossip. To Lynette’s relief, the boys were mostly talking about Carnovale’s car and the girls couldn’t get over how attractive he was. She didn’t need more fuss than that.

  Spanish was one of her classes that day. It went on for too long. Lynette wasn’t learning anything new that she didn’t already know. She spoke four languages fluently so the subject was mostly a means to an end. Severo believes that his daughter needs to be well educated in many areas, so from a young age she had tutors to make her father's wishes into a reality.

  She was not the only one bored to death though. She’d signed up for an advanced class and was attending it with the seniors. Among them were the Díez twins who were Spanish. It didn’t make much sense for them to be taking this class but they were. And judging by their tired faces, they would rather be anywhere else. Francisco was throwing rolled pieces of paper at his sister’s head, which made the girl swear silently. In Spanish. Since Lynette was near her, she heard it.

  At one point Inéz turned around towards her twin and threw a pencil case at him, fed up with this immature display of behavior. Unfortunately Díez got down just in time and she hit David Rodson in the face instead. The boy was known as the school’s telltale and it could only mean one thing for Inéz - detention.

  Seeing the frightened expression on the girl’s face, Lynette decided to help her. As David raised his hand, she turned around and gazed at him intently. It was enough for Rodson to look down and decide against saying anything.

  Lynette wasn’t one to abuse her reputation but she had little to lose right now. She was certain that David was just as terrified of her as the other students. But her gesture didn’t escape everyone else’s attention, and even the few students who had been paying attention to the teacher were now focused on her. Francisco Díez went so pale he could easily blend in with the white walls of the room.

  Since the girl had come to this school, he was the most engaged person as far as spreading the rumors went. It was clear for him that they were true even though she’d never admitted it. It wasn’t important. His naïve nature won over common sense. He believed everything someone said about her and there were many incredibly irrational stories going around.

  Selvaggio would never be able to hurt anyone. The only connection to violence she had was being born in the mafia family. And maybe her Italian temper which she always tried to keep under control.

  She ignored the students’ behavior and attempted to focus on the class. It was surprising that the teacher hadn’t noticed anything.

  “Thank you,” whispered Inéz.

  She looked at her from the corner of her eye and nodded slightly, showing that she’d heard it.

  § § §

  ”Finally,” Jason said when Lynette got in his car after classes.

  They’d been over for almost fifteen minutes, though the girl had tried to avoid the twins, but most of all their friend whom she’d met on Christmas Day. Every time he saw her, he looked as if he wanted to talk to her and it pushed Lynette to evade him quite a lot. That was exactly what she’d done when she saw him in front of the exit. The girl wasn’t sure whether he was waiting for her or his friends, but she wasn’t curious enough to find out.

  “Did you get detention?” The man joked, starting the engine and drove out of the schools’ property with a loud roar. He didn’t wait for an answer. “We have to go somewhere first. It won’t take long, I promise.”

  He was much different than yesterday. There was no point in keeping up the façade right now. As
Consigliere it was required for him to be seen as a tough and ruthless man. It made his job easier if everyone was afraid of him. Lynette didn’t kid herself thinking that Jason was a nice person. No Made Man was. He did terrible things. Killed people. But despite it, he'd never showed his bad side to the girl.

  Their first meeting was one of the most memorable ones. It happened when she went to Palermo a few years ago. A meeting between Severo’s captains was coming to an end. Lynette knew all their names, as was expected of her. But on this day, as the men were saying goodbye to her, she didn’t recognize one of them. He was standing in the hall, looking at her curiously. His slicked-back dark hair and brown eyes didn’t stand out. But his visible young age did. He didn’t strike the girl as a Made Man and he wasn’t one of her father’s captains either. That much was certain. He was barely eighteen years old. Most likely an outsider.

  As it turned out later, his grandfather was a great friend of her father’s and a supervisor of one of the most profitable cartels in Sicily. However, the old man had died a few years back, so the boy wasn’t connected to the mafia anymore, although he should have been.

  Severo met Jason in the port, as one of the shipments was being delivered. Made Men didn’t know him so it was pure luck that the Capo was supervising that day. Otherwise, he would have been killed before he could even say a word. But Severo preferred to know who he sentenced to death before giving an order. After a long conversation Selvaggio decided to give the boy the life that he’d been born to lead. He took him in and trained him as his soldier. It didn’t matter that Jason hadn’t been in the Famiglia from the start. It was enough that he was related.

  No one could disagree with Capo’s decision.

  Especially when Jason turned out to be a great fighter. He picked up almost immediately and quickly became one of the best. He was initiated and became a fully skilled Made Man.

  The initiation was the most important time for any mafioso. But it was also the most secret one. And every man was made a part of the Famiglia in a different manner. There was a pledge of omertà, along with loyalty and dutifulness for everyone. It was not enough, though. They had to prove themselves. So, they got different tasks to do. Each more dangerous than the latter. However, Lynette didn’t know the details of any of them. Even Jason didn’t tell her about his task, which was enough of a sign. It must have been highly dangerous and harder than most.

  Severo had big plans for Jason. He started attending important business meetings, learning not only how to kill, but how to negotiate too. It wasn’t common for the Capo to take any soldier under his wing unless he was his son. But Selvaggio saw something in the boy that changed his way of doing things.

  The rapid halt of the car made Lynette snap out of her thoughts. Looking around, they were in a nasty district of Seattle. Not a lot of people lived nearby. At least not good people. Most of the area was covered by forest, only a few houses spread thinly around and a complex of mostly empty warehouses that had been used to store ship parts at one point.

  Jason parked his car between the warehouse with a big, red letter A painted on the metal doors and a destroyed fence. She went out of the car with the man. They walked towards the furthest warehouse. Lynette couldn’t figure out the point of leaving the car so far away from their destination. She didn’t ask him.

  Stunned silence. The place made her cautious. Jason had to take care of something that was most likely connected to his job. One that Lynette wasn’t supposed to be a part of. That much was sure. Severo would be furious if he found out that his daughter was there. But Jason obviously trusted the girl enough to know that she would never tell on him. And despite everything, she was a little excited because it was the first time that she was doing something against her father’s will. Whatever that was.

  As they stopped in front of a big entrance, the door slid to the side with a loud screech. In front of them, there were two men dressed in black, holding guns which Lynette easily recognized. They were Thompsons M1928. Submachine guns also used by the FBI and during War World II. It made her think that an important meeting must be on the verge of happening. And she felt even more out of place. She wasn’t supposed to be there.

  She felt Jason’s hand on the small of her back. He must have seen her terrified expression. She breathed out as the men lowered their guns. No one had ever aimed at her and she wasn’t sure how to react. It wasn’t the first time she saw people with guns, and could usually recognize most of them, but that was as far as her experience went. However, she trusted Jason endlessly, and he would never let anything bad happen to her.

  The men searched them from head to toe before allowing them inside the warehouse. There were seven men dressed more or less the same as those who had opened the door. Though, one clearly stood out among them. A tall man with blond hair. He had a grey suit on and was definitely older than Jason, but younger than Severo. Slim and muscled. She would have labeled him as a businessman type, if not for the security guards he was surrounded with. He was undoubtedly connected to mafia.

  “Jason, so nice to see you again,” he said with a strong European accent. Sicilian with a clear hint of Trapani district's intonation.

  He went up to them and shook the Consigliere’s hand. Jason was tense. He clearly didn’t like the man in front of him but acknowledged him with cold, distant respect. Then his eyes settled on the girl. Judging by the surprise written all over his face, he definitely wasn’t expecting to see anyone with Carnovale. Most of all a teenage girl.

  “Who do we have here?” he asked.

  “This is Lynette Selvaggio,” Jason introduced her, drawing her a little bit closer as if he couldn’t be sure of the man’s reaction.

  The blond man's eyes lit up. He looked thrilled to meet her. “I didn’t expect to see her so soon.” He reached out his hand to the girl, greeting her.

  Lynette hesitantly looked at Jason, but upon seeing the slight nod of his head, she shook the man’s hand, feeling a shiver run down her spine. He didn’t say his name for some odd reason.

  “I am tight on schedule today so I decided to take Lynette here, as I picked her up from school,” said Carnovale.

  “Of course.”

  His attention drifted away from Lynette and quickly focused on the mafia business, which was not interesting for the girl at all, so she didn’t bother listening. Her eyes spotted three cars. A Maserati Gran Cabrio among them. She knew her way around cars and could even drive, seeing as Jason had taken it upon himself to teach her. She felt mesmerized looking at such a work of art parked and waiting to be driven.

  She went closer to it, feeling the Made Men’s eyes on her, but at that point, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

  “You like it?” asked the blond man, appearing beside her out of nowhere.

  She nodded and walked back to Carnovale almost immediately. “Come, Sco. We have to go.” She listened and exited the warehouse with Jason.

  The Consigliere looked at her. ”You cannot tell your father, you know that, right?”

  Her words weren’t necessary. She already knew that it had to stay between them. “Who was he?” she asked curiously, as she still didn’t know the man's name.

  “That was Marco Falcone, a Capo dei capi in Sicily. He runs most of the businesses there and also a few in Nevada. He took over the cartels in Palermo after we moved to Seattle.”

  Lynette had more questions but decided against asking them. Jason didn’t seem to want to talk to her about it anyway.

  § § §

  The day was not over. And Lynette came to regret it as soon as her father stepped into the dining area, followed by Jason. They were supposed to eat dinner with her. She could feel something was about to happen as they were consuming the delicious food prepared by Rosalia. She could see Severo’s focused face. He was intensively thinking about something and didn’t engage in the conversation. It was only her and Jason talking about nothing in particular. They were circling around the topic of today’s meeting. Th
e girl had so many questions and could hardly swallow them down, so as not to get Consigliere in trouble by saying the wrong thing. Even though Severo wasn’t really listening to anything around him.

  As Rosalia came up to the table to take their empty plates, she was stopped by Severo and asked to sit down for a minute. He respected the woman enough to involve her in their family life.

  ”Figlia, I have something to tell you,” he said matter-of-factly.

  It felt like deja vu. What more could her father possibly have to say to her? Hadn’t he already announced that he was looking for a wife?

  But little did she know, it was much worse this time.

  All three of them looked at Severo, waiting for him to continue. Could it be that he’d found out about the meeting that Jason had taken her to? But the Consigliere was sitting with them, which wouldn’t have happened in such a case.

  Did he know what kind of rumors the students were spreading around school about her and her family?

  There were many possibilities. None of which could end well.

  “Today Jason met with one of my good friends and a fellow Capo dei capi with whom I’ve been doing business for a long time. I don’t plan on it changing anytime soon." Pause. "That is why we decided that the best course of action is for you to marry his oldest son, Noah.”

  The glass that Lynette was holding hit the floor and shattered into tiny pieces. Rosalia touched her chest as if her heart was about to jump out. Even Jason seemed shocked by his boss’ declaration. The girl shouted out within an instant that she didn’t agree with it. She wanted Severo to go back on his promise. For the first time she lost her temper in front of him. She knew that she would come to regret it soon enough, but the news was bigger than her fear of punishment for disrespect.