Romeo and Juliet: Love and the Mafia

Chapter 9: Chance

The week following the ball, Rosaline left for Switzerland. She'd said her goodbyes to Romeo and Ben the day before in secret and on her departure day, Mercutio, Juliet and two of her close school friends saw her off at the train station. Juliet wept bitterly on her shoulder until Rosaline had to go and for the next few days would barely speak or show emotion to anyone. Romeo had behaved the same way, worrying his parents again. Ben had reassured them that he would be fine but would need some space, causing everyone in the house to walk on eggshells around him. Everyone but Luciana who was determined to find out what her brother was hiding. Perceiving this, Romeo tried his best to avoid or appear nonchalant around his sister but to no avail as she was an incredibly thorough and quick witted person.

One morning, as Romeo was moping in his room, he heard a sharp knock on his door. Knowing instantly who it was, he called, "Go away."

"Not a chance." Luciana bursted into the room, marched up to the office chair, where Romeo was seated, and stood before him, folding her arms.

"What is it?" Romeo scoffed.

"I know where you were last Friday. You were at the Capulet's ball."

Romeo felt his blood drain from his face and his heart stop beating. "W-what are you talking about?" he stammered, unable to meet his sister's cold gaze.

"Don't even bother pretending. You've already given yourself away."

"H-how did you know?" Romeo whispered hoarsely.

"It's the only explaination as to why you went out in a fancy dress costume", Luciana explained, "Obviously, I didn't have any proof that you'd gone there since you were smart enough to remain hidden. I couldn't find any photographic evidence anywhere on social media or on your bank statements."

"You went through my mail?!"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I saw that you'd paid money to Mercutio shortly after the ball. Probably to make up for all the money he'd spent on you because you didn't want the Capulet manor to show up on your transaction history. So I managed to get my hands on Mercutio's mail too while visiting his annoying sister Mauricea."

"Annoying, huh?"

"Shut it Romeo."

"You still don't have any proof that I went to that ball."

"Yes I do. Mercutio's transaction history clearly shows that he was at the ball last night and you were with him. I have speed camera footage of you and Ben in his car. Plus his licence plate."

Luciana pulled out a piece of paper with three images, the first one being of him, Ben and Mercutio inside Mercutio's car. While their faces weren't completely visible, he recoginsed his upturned collar from the rear window and Mercutio's pirate hat from the front. The second image was of Mercutio's licence plate while the third was of a woman's Facebook post. In the corner of the picture was him, Ben and Mercutio coming out of the car. While again, their faces were barely visible, the car and the boys' costumes had given them away. 

"It didn't cross your mind to get rid of your costume either", Luciana sneered, "so I took it. There's no way that Dad wouldn't believe me if I told him with all of this evidence."

"Luciana please", Romeo begged, "please don't tell him. He'll kill me."

"I know", Luciana responded, placing her hand on Romeo's shoulder, "I won't tell him."

"What's the catch?"

"Glad you asked." Luciana sighed and sat down on Romeo's bed before continuing. "Dad...doesn't take me seriously. No one does. Everyone thinks that I don't have what it takes to be Dad's successor so the role automatically falls to you. But I know that you don't have what it takes. You know too, don't you?"