Page 58 of Angelo

Despair darkened Mariposa's eyes as she continued with a broken expression, "I knew what might happen when I asked you for protection. I may have even been praying for it."

Elyse wasn't entirely surprised by Mariposa's admission, but she didn't know quite how to respond.

Resentment seemed to war with self-disgust as Mariposa asked, "What do you think of a woman who wishes death on her own family?”

Green eyes darted toward the bruise on Mariposa's cheek. It remained very visible. Back in Queens, she’d been knocked around by Mikey quite a few times. Sometimes, he struck hard enough to leave a mark. Other times, no evidence could be found on her body. Mikey loved to use violence as an intimidation tactic. The memories still made her sick. She’d felt so small and helpless because of his bullshit. But the abuse he put her through was nothing compared to the nightmare Mariposa’s father had trapped her in.

"If a girl was given a safe, loving home," Elyse shared quietly, "she wouldn't grow into a woman who wants her family to die."

“Do you think I should have forgiven them?”

Ruefully, Elyse thought of her father. “Forgiveness must be earned.”

“So they deserved to die?”

“I don’t know if they deserved it,” Elyse answered with a grimace. “But I'm not the kind of woman who turns the other cheek when a man threatens to hitme. I don’t think you’re the type, either.”

“Maybe that is why we are becoming friends.”

“Are we?”

“Maybe.”

Elyse laughed quietly.

"It is strange," Mariposa mused, her voice growing softer, "I have dreamed of escaping my father since I was a child, but, now that he is gone, I still do not feel free."

"How come?"

"Because I am a traitor," Mariposa whispered with haunted eyes. “I hate myself for hating my family.”

The magnitude of her hurt could be felt. It made Elyse's chest tighten with strain as well. She countered gently, "One could argue that your family betrayed you first."

"But they are dead," Mariposa mumbled, "and I am alive."

"Better them,” Elyse reminded her, “than you.”

"Yes, better them than me, I suppose,” Mariposa echoed sullenly. She then smiled a strained smile. “Want to know something terrible?"

"Only if you wish to tell me."

The girl's face turned even more brittle. "My father had my mother beaten to death when I was twelve. Everyone thinks she died in an accident. I believe I would have eventually suffered a similar fate. Orlando and Soren were every bit as violent and cruel as my father. I do not think they would care if my father let his men kill me."

Sorrow filled her as she listened to Mariposa.Dios, why did women in the mafia always meet such tragic ends? Elyse couldn't take away Mariposa’s pain any more than she could change her own fate. All she could offer was support and, hopefully, protection as her influence expanded and grew.

They were all trapped in a system designed to fuck them over.Papá’sdebts and her mother's blood had locked Elyse in place. Meanwhile, Mariposa had been suppressed by Aberto and his brutality.

It broke her heart.

In a voice seething between restraint and fury, Elyse asserted, "You and I may never be free from family. Blood is blood, after all, and it’s almost impossible to escape. The roots hold us in place like chains, but, even in a prison, thoughts can’t be caged. Our minds remain our own. We can choose to let fear silenceour power. Or use the rage to unfuck everything that feels fucked up about our world.”

Mariposa's dark eyes flickered before she sighed wistfully, "There is nothing I want more than to find my own power."

"Then help me rewrite the rules," Elyse urged, "until we no longer have to be afraid of anything or anyone."

Mariposa looked intrigued, but she continued to protest, "How do you intend to change traditions have been set in stone for generations?"

"Money is king," Elyse replied. "Control enough of it, and anything is possible."

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