Vanilla [DISCONTINUED]

30| Oh, Mafia

Scorpio

"Mi gente." [my parents] Scorpio Hall announced as he entered his stepfathers office, wondering what the urgency was for. "Mama, ¿qué es?" He asked rudely.

"Diablo." His mother hissed at him. At this point, Scorpio know things were serious because his mother seldomly used his middle name. "Sit."

"Scorpio, you have to leave the country." Alessandro, a man he likened to the ideal father, finally spoke, sitting in the excessively dramatic Italian leather chair with Mario on the armrest.

Scorpio furrowed his eyebrows and leaned forward. "For what?"

His stepdad sighed and sat back, thinking. How would he explain this to his stepson? "Let me start at the beginning. Scorpio, you know I am a very rich and prosperous man. Money I get is from my corporate business. But I'm sure you've wondered if that was where it all came from?"

Scorpio nodded.

"Well, its from the Italian mafia. I've been in the business for a long time and have built a very discreet underground system that threatens to be exposed. That's bad because, 1. I'll go to jail. 2. I'll have to leave here so I don't know who would support you guys. 3. If this system is in danger, so are you and everyone you know."

"So, what does this have to do with me going to Italy?" Of course, Scorpio was scared. There was a sliver of fear inside him that thought of Mariah.

"I need you to do something for me. You have to join my mafia."

He widened his eyes in shock. There was no way Scorpio would ever think of doing that. Even more so, how could his mother sit there and let this scene play out. "Mama, are you hearing this?"

The 50-something year old sighed and nodded at her son, assuring him that she had thought this through with her Alessandro.

"How long have you known about this?"

Alessandro spoke up. "Since we started dating. She knows everything and it's time for you to, too. I want you to go out on a task for me in Italy. Deliver a package but don't look at what's inside and don't ask questions."

"What if I don't want to do this?"

The stepdad leaned back in patronizing shock. "You have to, son."

"Please, don't use that label to make me be a lapdog."

"Look, I'm pretty sure it won't be the only illegal thing you've done. I mean, you've spent years underground boxing so this shouldn't be hard for you."

"Why can't you get one of your existing employees to do it? I'm sure they know the business better and I don't want to get involved in illegal business anymore."

They both stare at each other. Alessandro knew that he would not win this argument. Scorpio was no fool and thus, he deserved to know the actual truth. "Okay, fine. You won't do dirty work but I still need you to go. It's not exactly safe for you here."

Scorpio was seated on edge now. What was going through his mind was if his girlfriend was in danger as well. "What did you do?" He hissed.

"Calm down." His stepdad bit back and stood. "I'm in a bit of a mafia war. Nothing too serious. The Mexicans and I have some disagreements. But they know about you and your previous connections so you gotta go."

"What about Mariah?"

"What about her?"

"I can't leave her."

Alessandro tsked thoughtful. "I think...the best bet, is to take her with you. But you can't tell her the real reason why. Just...say you're going on a getaway trip, courtesy of me."