Page 9 of Reign of Commotion

“I hate shopping,” she said quietly.

“Oh yeah?I thought it was a woman’s favorite pastime,” I teased.

She rewarded me with a shy smile.“Not this one.But don’t tell your mom.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

No long after our chat, Dad and Fausto are out in the car waiting while I hear my mother fussing and chatting with Milana at the top of the stairs.

“It won’t be too bad.I don’t understand why they have to go through this pagan ritual of tattooing, but if Alessio insists, then it must be done,” she huffs.My mother is growing fond of Milana.I know that Mom is beginning to care for Milana as one of her own.She’s even gone to the lengths of setting up appointments to see houses for sale in the area to keep us close.

“It’s understandable.Alessio has every right to be cautious.When I found out my father was a traitor and was pawning me off to the enemy, I was young, and I couldn’t think of anything other than how to stay alive.I was convinced Marco would kill me too.But that meant I didn’t trust him, so why would Alessio trust me?Trust is earned, and I have to show him that I’ll serveIl Destinofaithfully,” I hear Milana say from the top of the stairs.

My chest swells with pride, but we can’t put this off any longer.“Milana, we have to go.Alessio’s waiting for us.”

She appears at the top of the stairs and gives my mother a quick peck on the cheek.“It’ll be okay,” Mom tells her.

We arrive at Alessio’s house, where Josephine comes to meet us with her son, Nico, on her hip.

“Hello, Julian.And you must be Milana.I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” Josie says, straining to keep Nico close to her as he’s clawing to get to me.

“Juju,” Nico shouts gleefully.

I reach out to take him in my arms.“Hey, little man.You being good for Mama?”He slaps my cheeks playfully.Dad and Fausto exchange pleasantries with Josie and go off into the den, where Alessio is waiting.

“Josephine, you can talk all you want later.We need to get this done,” I hear Alessio bark.A second later, he appears wearing a stern expression.“Let’s get this done.I’ve got shit to do.”

“Alessio, language!”Josie exclaims.He walks right up to his wife and plants a hard kiss on her mouth.

“Babe, he doesn’t understandshityet.I think we’re good,” he says.Alessio’s right.And I wonder how Josie’s going to deal with it when Nico is formally inducted intoIl Destino.Josie was born into this life, and she’s seen more ugliness than most.Her first husband beat her relentlessly, but that was only after her father did the same as she was growing up.It’s never been spoken of, but it’s been said that Alessio disposed of Josie’s husband to save her from his constant abuse.Alessio then discovered that her father was going to force her to marry a man over twice her age who was known to be brutal.Josephine couldn’t take it anymore and showed up at Alessio’s house and begged him for death.

Their story is long and complicated, and in the Mafia world, women have to be resilient because they never know what will come next.

I hand Nico back to his mother and guide Milana into the den, with Alessio leading the way.There’s a table set up with Franco, a tall, swarthy artist we use for all our tattoos, at the far end of the room.Franco’s been a good friend to me over the years.Women flock to him like bears to honey.He looks like a model who just walked off the runway.I call him an artist because he is just that.I have his work inked on me, and I’m in awe of how he seems to bring to life the designs we collaborate on.

Franco walks up and smiles at Milana.Despite the dark ink covering his neck, arms, and hands, he’s got kind, deep-blue eyes.“I’ll try to make this as quick as possible.I won’t say painless because I won’t lie to you.It’s going to sting.”

“I’ll be fine,” she replies.

“Here are some designs that I came up with.Take a look, and we’ll get started,” Franco says.

Milana turns to me and says, “You choose.”

I scan through the designs and see one with theIl Destinodagger surrounded by thorns, but the thorn tips are wrapped in a vine with tiny flowers in rose pink and white.“This one.”

“Shoulder?Thigh?Hip?”he asks.

“Shoulder,” I respond, not wanting anyone to see more of Milana than is necessary.

“Wedding dress,” Milana whispers, reminding me that with the strapless gown she and Mom chose, the fresh tattoo would be on display for all to see.She points to her hip and pulls down her tights a little.“How about here?”

“It’s going to hurt like hell there,” I advise her.

“I can take it.”Her chin juts out with pride.

Franco says, “We can take breaks if it gets to be too much.”

A couple of hours later, the ink comes to life on her creamy white skin.Milana never once asked for a break.I made Franco stop a couple of times, wanting to make sure that Milana stayed hydrated and giving her a bottle of water.Her face contorted with pain, but she powered through without a word.It’s not a huge tattoo, but it covers a good deal of her hip.Along with theIl Destinodagger, Franco finished with swirly, girly lettering, my name etched on her, and the greatest feeling of satisfaction comes over me.I was firmly against this from the start, but seeing my name on her body makes her mine in a way I can’t describe.

---