A Mob Boss's Honour

35. A Mansion in Boston

Boston, United States, evening time

Mariella was sitting in the kitchen and wiping the brand new plates that had just been washed with a cloth. She was only sixteen years old. She had school during the day and after arriving home and finishing her home work she was allowed to come to this mansion to help her mother around the mansion where she worked. Her mother, Nina was a maid who recently had started work for the Romano family. The Romano family were a wealthy crime family who owned businesses in Italy. But had over the past few years gained ground in America too. A territory in Boston was being run by a Romano and the neighbouring territories had also struck an alliance with the Romanos. Silvestro Romano who was the younger brother of Salvadore Romano, the head of the Romano family in Sicily ran the business here for the Romanos in America. He was the boss and not a patient and forgiving one either. He ruled his territory and businesses with an iron fist.

Mariella lived alone with her mother. Her father had walked out on the family when she was a baby. Her single mother had brought her up all by herself. Mariella's mother was lucky to have this job now. They used to live in the neighbouring territory and worked for another crime family as a nanny. But as the children had grown they had no use for Nina. They had enough maids too. So they had referred Nina to the Romanos who had been recruiting at the time for new employees. That had been over a year ago. Ever since Mariella had come to this mansion in the evenings after school and during weekends to help her mother. She had been a witness to the workings of the house and she had a good idea of the workings there. She was hoping that over her school holidays she could perhaps ask for a job to earn some money when she had no school to work alongside her mother here.

Mariella did not have to work. But she wanted to help her mother. The sooner she finished her duties the sooner she could come home. The mansion was huge and many servants, maids and guards maintained and served there. Everyone had certain duties they had to finish within a time limit. If they didn't they couldn't go home until they did. And if they went home late it meant less sleep but the next morning there was going to be work starting at normal time. So to reduce chances of her mother having to do over time she always volunteered to help her finish her work.

This evening was especially busy. There was someone special arriving at the mansion. The boss's nephew, Salvatorio was going to arrive from Sicily to stay and study for a couple of months in America. He was a sixteen year old teenager who spoke fluent English as his schooling was good in Sicily with the best tutors and his grades were quite good. He was going to attend a top private school nearby. Everyone around the mansion was nervous about his arrival. He was the next heir in line to take over from his father to rule the Romano business empire one day. His arrival had been anticipated for the past week. He was going to be their other boss. Everything had to be perfect and in place. He was going to arrive very shortly.

Mariella stood up and picked up the plates. She made her way to the dining room and to get started with setting up the dinner table in advance. The smell of fresh flowers had filled the dining room. The beautiful chandeliers had lit up the room and the room was warmed up with the two fire places in the room.

Mariella wondered what Salvatorio was like. He must have been a young version of his uncle. A born leader with no mercy and an inhuman desire for unnecessary cruelty. Everyone was used to the rules here. No one complained. The wages were good. If you made no mistakes on the job there was nothing to worry about. But mistakes were costly and were severely punished.

After she finished setting up the table, she made her way to the young master's bedroom. She had to make sure there were no flaws in the room. She walked inside and looked around. She had never been to this room before. It was huge. It was twice the size of the entire flat that her and her mother lived in. It was warm, spacious, well equipped and beautifully decorated. She made her way around the room to check if her mother had done everything that was needed. Right now her mother was busy in the upstairs kitchen that was reserved for cooking and serving food only. This house was so huge it had multiple kitchens. Her mother had the responsibility of taking care of this room before she had gone cooking.