Santi's Downfall

Chapter 5: Sicily

Going to Sicily is better than going to the moon.

Gabriel Garcìa Màrquez

Haven Pierce's POV

I was still staggering at the bomb he had just dropped on me. I still couldn't believe that he casually told me that he—Santino Marchesi—was part of the underground business. In short, he's a member of the mafia. No, not just a simple member but a high-ranking official.

But my brain refused to accept the fact that he was implying my Dad's association with the crime organization. I was hoping that Dad's money didn't come from dirty work and that he got it wrong but I was forced to reevaluate my fierce denial when we finally arrived at his jaw-dropping house...no not a house but a freaking castle-like mansion.

There was no mistaking that he was telling me the truth when we were still trapped inside his plane that he was a freaking member of the mafia. There were heavily armed guards securing the perimeter of his huge property as the car pulled inside the driveway I got the chance to admire the architecture of his house.

Is this the house he expects me to live in until my summer vacation is over?

I could almost imagine myself getting lost in this house mansion. Maybe if he wants me to live here I should at least ask for a map or something to know the direction of his kitchen. I looked at him with a questioning gaze. "Can we clarify a few things here, Mr. Marchesi?"

His lips reluctantly twitched with a smile. "Sure."

I took a deep breath. "I just want to be sure that on a few things I already ask you while we were still on your plane. One, this is your house?"

"Yes." He answered simply.

"Two, and I suppose to live here for the entire summer—under your care—until my last semester at the university starts?"

"That's correct."

"Three, are you really a mafia?"

"Yes. I want to give you a credit because you just take it all coolly after everything I told you, I didn't expect that to be honest," he said with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"To be honest, I'm still reeling at the bomb you just drop and I don't know to react," I replied saucily. I still don't know how I manage to answer back to a vicious guy like him. He was the type of man you don't want yourself to be associated with.

"How many questions do you plan on asking me? I hate to tell you this but I don't have much time left on my hands because I need to take care of some business."

I bit my bottom lip. I don't understand why I bother to ask these stupid questions to him in the first place. "One more question."

He cocked his brow at me with a playful smile playing on his mouth. "Fire away."

I hesitate for a moment. I wasn't sure if I should ask it but I was wondering about it since I first laid eyes on him. There was something about his appearance that tells me that a dangerous person. "Are you a bad guy?"

The playfulness vanished from his expression and his eyes become cold and distant once again. "I'm a mafia."

With that, he left me standing in the driveway while he marched inside his imposing castle-like mansion. Did I offend him somehow? Why did he suddenly become aloof when he was just playing along with me a moment ago?

"Sorry about that guy," the first guy who approached me in the parking lot of the university was instantly on my side watching the retreating form of his moody boss. I think his name was Nico. "He's struggling to be nice to people. He's a grumpy fellow."