DeLuca (Mafia Romance)

“I may not be used to all this girl power bonding shit but I’m pretty sure that me unloading a pile of dirty laundry on you constitutes you doing some sharing of your own.”

“What do you want to know?” I asked, a little apprehensive. It’d been years since I’d extended my circle of trust to anyone new, but Frankie had worked for Carlo for the past five years. If Enzo and Carlo trusted her, I would too. Besides, after what we’d been through today and the dedication she’d showed me, it felt as if I’d know her for years. I needed a female friend like Frankie in my life, someone to confide in other than Carlo, someone to relate to.

“How did you and Carlo meet? I mean we all know the whole sister thing was a crock of shit otherwise things would get pretty awkward when your kids start coming out with tails.”

Kids?

I shook my head at the thought, I couldn’t even consider wandering down that rabbit hole right now.

“Umm, we met when he… Jesus this is going to sound bad. We met when he tried to kill me. Well, he didn’t really try to kill me. He had just planned to kill me.”

God, I hope she doesn’t think I’m a total fucking nutcase.

“What in the actual fuck? Are you fucking kidding me?” she screeched. I winced as the sound echoed through the car. “Holy fucking shit, you are serious!”

“Ugh, it’s not as bad as it sounds.” I said exasperated, then I thought about it for a minute, “Actually it is. It’s exactly as bad as it sounds.”

“You can’t leave me hanging like that! Explain.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I heaved a sigh, “My father worked for Carlo and his father before him, and he turned rat, started selling secrets to the Kashnikov’s. You see, Carlo has this policy where if you betray him he kills your whole family. So he brought me and my mother to where he was holding my father because he planned to kill us in front of him as punishment for his betrayal.”

“Jesus, fuck! How old were you?”

“Seventeen, now stop interrupting. I let you tell your story without the fucking commentary.” I wasn’t really angry with her. In fact, her reaction was almost funny.

“Okay, okay, I’ll shut up. But for the record, your story is way more fucked up.”

“Dully noted. As I was saying, Carlo planned to kill us in front of my father. The thing was, me and my parents did not have a good relationship. My dad slapped me around quite a bit and my mom just ignored it because she was happy it wasn’t her getting the beating. So when Carlo told me what was happening and I realized that my mom knew what was going on and didn’t do a thing to protect me, I freaked the fuck out. Since Carlo could see that there was no love lost between me and my parents, he let me live and took me under his wing. That was the best day of my life.”

“Huh, that is actually kind of romantic in a totally twisted and fucked up way.”

“Aww, thanks!” I said in an annoyingly peppy voice. We both laughed and continued to trade stories for the rest of the drive to Salem.

Pulling up to the familiar two story home brought reality crashing down on me again. I didn’t know if I was ready to see Gina’s parents again but I didn’t have a choice. I had to get Carlo back and they were the only two people in this city that I trusted. Parking behind one of the SUVs in the driveway, I looked over to Frankie who had fallen silent since we pulled off the highway. I had sent Sal and the other men to a nearby hotel since there wasn’t room for everyone at the house.

“You ready?” I asked.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

We climbed out of the car and headed up the walk to the front door. Before we even hit the first step up to the porch the front door swung open and Pauline, Gina’s mom, stood in the doorway. She immediately burst into tears and rushed towards us.

“Mia, oh Bella. I’m so glad you’re here!” she said as she flung her thin arms around me pulling me into a tight hug.

“Hey, I missed you too,” I said hugging her back. Pulling away I turned to the woman beside me, “Pauline, this is Frankie. Frankie, this is Pauline.”

Frankie extended her hand, “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh please,” Pauline swatted her hand away and pulled her into a hug. Caught off guard, Frankie awkwardly patted her back. “A friend of Mia’s is a friend of ours. Whatever you need while you’re here don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“Can you show us where the men are? I don’t mean to be rude but time is of the essence here.”

“Of course, sweetheart, I understand. Come on in, they’re in the front room,” she said drying her eyes with the back of her hand and leading us into the house. I felt bad for not calling more often to check on them. She was obviously still having a hard time after Gina’s death. I had been so caught up in my own mission for vengeance that I didn’t even stop to think about them. Once this was over, I promised myself I would make more of an effort to reach out.

Angelo and Antonio were sitting on the couch across from Michael speaking in hushed tones while two other men sat on the opposite couch with Michael. As soon as they heard us come in Angelo and Antonio stood.

I raised my hand to ward off the questions I saw brewing in their eyes, “Sal and the others are setting up at a hotel a few minutes away, and we’ll debrief them in the morning after we have a plan.”

Before anyone else could say anything, Frankie spoke, “Where’s Enzo?” she asked, panic evident in her voice.

“He’s resting. I’ll take you to him,” Pauline said from behind her, “and then, I’ll go put on a pot of coffee. Looks like it’s going to be a long night.” She guided Frankie out of the room and down the hall.

Taking a seat next to Angelo, I focused my attention on Antonio, “Tell me what happened.”