MAFIOSO The Syndicates

The Trial

WHERE THE HELL are you, Aurelio?

How have you disappeared, simply vanished amidst this world? Or are you already dead? I hoped not. How would I live without you? Fear nipped at my mind, and I rubbed my fingers in worry. You haven't reached out to me once since my stateside return, not since you've kidnapped my father. But you loved me.

Once.

Remember?

Or maybe you want to be dead to me, to prepare my mind to slowly wipe away all memories of you, and learn to suppress all recollections of you. Then like the sands of time that has run dry, I'd completely forget you.

How could I ever forget you?

I loved you.

You'd have to have left traces of your presence if you intended for me to find you. I've been searching high and low, in all the places we've been, in all the corners of my memories. So far, there hasn't been a single sign left by you.

For me.

I pressed my quivering lips together and stifled my tears. I couldn't cry, not now, not while Fin was here. The android case reflected off an overcast New York sky as I swiped my phone on to check for a missed call. 

There was none. 

Not even a text. Nothing. Fin advised that I changed my number to be safe, but I couldn't do it. I was still waiting. I've been waiting for you, Aurelio. For two weeks now, I've been hiding for my life.

And still, you've left me as empty as your hollow heart.

What once was slim hope suddenly unfolded into something like wrath. Spite by Aurelio's abandonment, that he kidnapped my father and just...left me to rot in the aftermath. I wanted to hurl my phone off the ledge of this 65th-floor penthouse. I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs, "fuck you, Aurelio! You broke my heart! I hate your fucking guts forever!"

And then I'd cry, because opening up and spilling this confession to the entire world just proved how much I still loved him. How I missed his caress, the way the callouses on his hands felt against my cheeks. I've never felt lonelier in bed. Even his obnoxious snores were now like songs I hated but hummed quietly in the shower every morning.

I sighed deeply. What was I going to do?

Aurelio abandoned me, for dead no less. Fred was dead. There's no denying that. I saw Osvoldo shoot him with my own eyes. My father's been kidnapped and could very well be dead by now. My sworn enemy, the Persichettis, has taken reign of my father's syndicate, ousting me of all the security and power I once had under my father's protection. They've moved into what was once my home; they burnt everything except for the walls of the mansion. My childhood and all its memories, now ash carried off by an autumn haze.

Death-exempt waivers didn't exist so I have no kin to take me in. We're all disposable - a means to an end, some shape or form of collateral damage. No amount of my father's allies are willing to cross Osvoldo by sheltering me, not at the expense of their own families. And never again would I put any friends' lives in danger. That's why I've pushed them all away. To associate with me was like walking a frayed rope over the edge of a knife. 

My best friend was shot dead that Wednesday.

Five years ago. 

She died because I lent her my coat. She died because they thought she was me. She died on that street - just an ordinary girl coming back from the drug store with a pack of fucking tampons. I wept at her funeral, then I burnt that fucking coat in a dumpster.

My father had many enemies, as did I because I was his daughter. Betrayal was like a loyal dog waiting by our feet, never straying too far from our side. Whether by an inside job or by vengeful rival mafia syndicates, shit like that wrongfully cost Nat her life. I was lonely without her. I'm even lonelier now that Aurelio decided to fuck me over.

Osvoldo will come for me. He wants me dead, to let loose his angry rottweilers to shred me apart. I was the last Botticelli remaining. Ridding me would ensure that the entirety of my family was completely out of the picture.

For good. Forever.

That's why I was here, tucked away in my father's secret penthouse. This upscale residential building housed influential state officials, constituents abound, celebrities with world-wide followings, and my father - a Boss. A Mafia Boss. He was so high up the food chain, no one could bring him down. No one dared.

Except for Aurelio, but he himself was a rival Mafia Boss.

The front doors and iron gates were heavily guarded and extra precautions were taken to ensure no break-ins occurred within the building. This entire floor had its own exclusive elevator. When I took it down, it opens directly into our very own private four-car garage. Damn right, I grew up privileged as hell.

But I was not a spoiled bitch like Gulia.

I was just a bitch on a bad day. Hey, at least I was being honest.

I gave up all this privilege for Aurelio. I gave it all up to live in a shack in the middle of a small island with nothing but a lick of technology - and that was on a good day. I taught English to children at a makeshift school built of mud and straw and refused every cent offered to me. I gave up all the fine things in life, grand and trivial.

For what could be better than a life with Aurelio?

Food I'd never tasted again, bittersweet white wine, shiny polished cutlery. I abandoned my father. I gave up everything to join Aurelio beside a dying fire, picking off bones from the days meager catch.

I loved him.

I could wash away all the lavishness I was endowed with. I could play the role of the forsaken daughter, now impoverished and living off train fares and a public library card. I'd be cool no matter which way the wind blew.

But what was eating me alive felt like something entirely different, like a burning in my belly that needed to be satiated. I wanted revenge.

Retribution.

I wanted to douse a small flame with a gallon of gasoline, watch it fucking blow up then strut away while the world erupted wildly behind me.

Freddie didn't deserve to die. Fin didn't deserve that marking on his neck. I didn't deserve to be hunted like a wild animal into a corner. My father fucked up, but I deserved to settle my score with him first. And Aurelio stole that chance from me.

He abandoned me with full intent to kidnap my father; there was the intent to leave me with nothing.

Aurelio deserved severe punishment.

By me.

No, I couldn't walk away, not after refueling myself with this surge of purpose. There were still too many unfinished business, the personal kind that would eat at me for centuries to come if I didn't take action now.

If I chose to be a coward.

I had gotten sloppy; allowed everyone to play their hands without me. But now I'm here, and this was my turf. These were my streets. My father ran this shit, and I ran it directly under him. Osvoldo will pay. Aurelio will pay. I will get my father's house back, and with it, all the power vested in its ownership.

I was done feeling sorry for myself. It's time to dust off, clench my fist, grit my teeth and go to battle for what's rightfully mine. It was time to cut a deal with Vincent.

Tonight.

"Ready?" Fin walked up to me, flipping his cigarette bud onto the white pavement. The bright orange end flickered and charred black. I nodded and stepped down from the precarious ledge.

"So what's it gonna be?" He asked. "You stayin' or leavin'?"

My eyes locked with his, and my resolve blazed like wildfire. "I'm going to a fucking party tonight."

The corner of his lips twitched with approval. "Damn right you are."