Page 48 of Married to the Mafia

I think I might be about to get whacked. This is the ultimate test. It’s the part I didn’t tell her. If the Capo dei Capi doesn’t approve of the union, it gets ended quickly. I could count in hours the length of time we’ve been married. Is this it? Does it end here?

I tense up. Message or death. This is the moment of truth.

Text appears on the black screen, green capital letters like it’s the 1980s. Do you love her?

That’s not easy to answer. I don’t know if I’m capable of love. I thought I was once, but I soon stomped down on it. It’s an emotional weakness that gets in the way of business. I rose above it to reach the top in front of my brothers. Her name flickers into my mind. Rose. Do I love her?

I don’t know what love is, I type back.

Do you love her?

I pause before replying. I want to fuck her. I want to have an heir with her. Base emotions are the reason for both those desires. What is love, anyway? Isn’t it just the desire to fuck? That’s all I’ve ever felt toward women. I never felt anything deeper than that. I doubt it exists.

No, I reply, not sure I’m telling the truth. Have I got the job or just signed my own death warrant with those words?

Then let her go.

I type fast.

If I do, Ricardo Belucci will claim her.

Let her go. That’s an order.

The screen clicks off and a second later it’s back on the library menu, like nothing happened. I stand up. The conversation is over.

I can’t obey his command. He may be the Capo dei Capi, in charge of all the mafia families in the country, but he’s not the boss of me. I will not give her up.

Whether I love her or not is irrelevant. If I let her go, Ricardo gets her. Maybe once I’ve dealt with him, I can think about it, but for now, she remains my wife.

I call Corrado on the way out of the library. “He sent a message,” I tell him. “Told me to get rid of her.”

“Going to do it?”

“Not a chance in hell.”

He laughs. “Only you would go against a ruling from the Capo dei Capi. You know what this means, right?”

“Trouble.”

“I’ve been getting bored recently, Dino. Maybe it’s time we show our muscle, show what we’re capable of. You got the chip. You got her. I say you make yourself the Capo dei Capi. Fuck them all.”

I hang up and get in the car. Is this the start of the war? Is this how I go out?

If the world’s about to go to hell, there’s one thing I want to do first. She’s waiting for me back at the house. Some people want a last cigarette. Some want a last meal. I want a last fuck with my wife.

19

Rose

Rose

My chance came and went. He walks out of the bedroom and doesn’t lock the door behind him. Whatever the phone call is, I guess it’s important because I can hear his tone of voice change as he walks away.

I untie my ankles and pull my tits back into my bra, standing up and walking over to the window. I look out at the city and wonder who I am.

I walk around the house, trying doors. All locked. It’s a maze of a place. Stairwells, some open, some locked. I can go up and down, but there doesn’t appear to be a path to the front door.

I’ve come across no one. It’s like the rapture happened and I’m the only one left behind. Or maybe this is my version of hell. Just me in pants, a plain white top, and no way of getting outside.

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