Revenge.
I'm familiar with it. You have to be when you're the firstborn son of a notorious mafia leader. Death and vengeance have been the very foundations of my life.
So who in their fucking mind would be stupid enough to cross me?
My brother and...
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"I'm calling the police."
I sigh, rubbing an exasperated hand over my face. On the other line of the phone Anna is fuming and basically making threats all around. That's what I get for avoiding her calls for three weeks straight I suppose.
"Annalisa, please."
"Don't use my full name on me, Mariana. What the hell kind of shit did I come back to?"
I met Anna back in med school. I was in my graduating year and she was about halfway through. I saw her around campus a few times and instantly knew. People, our people, have an air about us only we can recognize. It's in the little things. Glancing around at all times, up and leaving with no explanation, refusing to talk about their parents. I sat down next to her uninvited even though she was leaned against a tree and wearing a deliberate face of "don't fuck with me." She was closed off from the start and basically spat fire but I didn't care. I could see the pain in her eyes even then.
I'd come to learn she was also New York mafia, as I'd suspected. The difference was her parents were assholes who disowned her when she tried to run away with the love of her life at the time. It was because of her father's command that a soldier shot her fiancée to death and Anna found herself alone and on the streets. She did what she had to do to survive, including being a full-time stripper to put herself through med school and crawl out of the hole she was dumped in. I've never met anyone more resilient and cold, but also full of so many feelings if only people stuck around to learn them.
I consider her a good friend and probably the closest friend I have but our different worlds make it difficult to constantly stay in touch. For one, those disowned by their people are not invited into other familias. Father is an understanding man but my friendship with Anna is one even he could not allow. Anna understands that and often keeps her distance because she doesn't want me to lose everything like she did. She's also in her final year of med school now and wants to graduate loan-free. That means she's been travelling with her sleazy boss to strip-shows he puts on in different states. She's been gone a month, stripping through night and studying through day, and I've managed to lie to her about everything in my life so far.
But she came back this morning and when she wouldn't stop blowing up my phone, I knew I had to answer. I also sang like a freaking canary because Anna has the annoying ability to make people admit the things they don't want to admit. She's a freaking ice queen and possibly the scariest bitch I know. It's probably why I feel so safe around her.
"Io lo ammazzo," she hisses.
I raise a brow at her intense statement. "He's Capo and basically a murderer. You can't kill him."
"I'll fucking try it. And your dad. How could he give you up like that? You told me he was different."
"I told you, he didn't have a choice. I didn't believe it at first either but I've been married almost a month and it's starting to make sense in its own twisted way."
