Omerta (The DeLuca Family #1) (3 page)

…

Soon after Carlo disappeared there was a knock at the door.

“Come in?” I called, still unsure of my place here.

A petite woman came through the door holding a garment bag. Her long hair was pulled into a bun at the base of her neck and from what I could deduce from the gray streaking through her black hair, she was probably in her mid-fifties. She wore a crisp button down, gray slacks and an apron.

“Hello darling, you must be Mia. I’m Elena.”

“Oh, hello,” I gave her a nervous smile, everything was so different from when I woke up this morning. I was completely out of my element and had no idea how to act or what to say. It was all so overwhelming.

“No need to be scared, Bella. I know this must be a lot to take in and I promise I will answer whatever questions I can, but for right now you need to get ready for dinner. Here, I brought you some clothes to change into. They will have to do until we can go shopping.”

Bella.
My grandmother used to call me that before she passed, the endearment instantly warmed me to Elena and set my nerves at ease.

“Okay, thank you.”

She set the bag on the bed and nodded once, leaving the room.

After a quick shower I unzipped the bag Elena had left and inspected the contents. Three dresses; black, light blue and gray. They must have been Elena’s because when I slipped on the blue one for dinner I noticed it was exceedingly short on my 5’ 9” frame.

Oh well, I guess it’s better than blood stained jeans.

Even though I was just going downstairs for dinner something told me it would be inappropriate to go barefoot so I slipped on my black converse and headed out in search of the dining room. I backtracked down the huge staircase leading down to the foyer and after only two wrong turns I found Elena in the kitchen. It was going to take forever to learn how to navigate through this place.

Seriously, who needs this much fucking space?

Elena was just pulling out the lasagna from the oven when I walked in.

“Ah, so the dresses fit. Good, I was worried,” Elena mused when she saw me standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Oh, umm, yeah. Just a little short,” I said with a nervous little chuckle while I smoothed the skirt of the dress down, willing it to be just a little longer.

“Nonsense, you look beautiful. We will need to get you some new shoes though,” she commented with a raised eyebrow.

At that I laughed, a real laugh, and struck a pose. “What? You don’t like it? I think it makes a statement.”

“A statement huh? That you have no fashion sense?”

We both giggled at that one and I gave her a huge smile. Just then the door opposite of the one I had come through swung open and Carlo waltzed into the room.

“What are you two in here cackling about? I’m hungry.” At first I thought he was angry but then a slight grin pulled at his mouth.

“You’re always hungry. Why don’t you show Mia to the dining room, dinner is almost ready,” Elena said, effectively shoeing us out. It was obvious the kitchen was her domain and even a scary Mob Boss didn’t have a say in the confines of these walls.

“Of course, this way Mia.” With a sweep of his hand and a slight bow Carlo led me back through the door he had come in and into the dining room. There was a massive wood table in the center of the room directly under the most ornate chandelier I had ever seen. Carlo pulled a chair just to the right of the head of the table and gestured for me to sit.

“Wine?” he asked once we were both seated.

“Yes, please,” I had drank wine regularly at dinner with my parents and after the day I had a glass would do well to settle my nerves. I was still apprehensive about my place here and wasn’t sure how to fit in. I had never had any siblings.

No, your father stole that from you.

My hand gripped the wine glass hard at that thought, but I was saved from my inner musings when Elena came in with the salads.

“So, I’m sure you have questions and I would be happy to answer them for you. All you need to do is ask. Of course there are some things about my business that I will not discuss but I will do my best to answer what I can,” Carlo prompted.

“I understand, I guess I just don’t know where to start. You said I watch too many movies, what did you mean by that?”

Carlo let out a relaxed laugh, “Ah, yes. You seem to be under the impression that I live a real-life version of The Godfather, yes?”

I nodded.

“In some sense I guess that is true, I am the Boss and not all of my businesses are exactly legitimate. However, the Italian Mafia as you know it to be depicted in movies is no longer. As I’m sure you know, the Mafia was far reaching and a powerful force until the mid-eighties. Now the organization is mostly contained to the east coast and Europe. I may be involved in organized crime but my ‘family’ as I like to call it doesn’t necessarily follow the old ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for instance, in the Italian Mafia if you are not of Italian decent you are unable to move past the rank of associate to become a Made-Man. Also, women are not able to hold any sort of position within the organization and men were not allowed to grow facial hair.”

“So, you don’t follow those rules, but you’re still Mafia?”

“I am a modern man, Mia. I don’t care for the antiquated and prejudiced views of the men before me. First and foremost I am a businessman, making money is my goal, whether my men grow facial hair or not is of little concern to me. And while I don’t have many women working under me in my non-legitimate dealings I don’t discriminate. Besides there are just some jobs that a woman is much more suited for than a man.”

“But your men are still Italian, right?”

“I have a few men that are not of Italian decent but mostly, yes. What can I say, we stick to what we know. But that’s not just an Italian thing, most organized crime is run in the same way. You stick to the people you know and can trust, usually those people fall under the category of kin or countryman. It’s just the way it works.”

“You kill people.” I said.
No shit, Sherlock.
I had seen him murder my mother right in front of me just hours ago.

And you murdered your father.

Carlo regarded me carefully, he was solemn when he responded. “Yes, when necessary.”

I nodded again. There really wasn’t much to say after that. We finished our meal in silence, Carlo had given me something my father never had, honesty. While I may not be completely comfortable with what he did and how he did it, I was thankful that he trusted me enough to answer my questions without sugarcoating it. He didn’t treat me like a child, in fact he treated me like an equal, something I had never before experienced.

Chapter 3

Carlo

It had been a month since Mia came to live with me. I was able to obtain all the forged documents needed to give her a new identity as Mia Sophia DeLuca.

Since my father was extremely private during his life, and up until my mother’s death ten years ago she spent most of her time in Italy, all it took was a few doctored boarding school transcripts to explain her sudden appearance. Since she was no longer Mia Sophia Caruso I wouldn’t let her keep anything from her previous life, which she didn’t seem to mind. I offered to let her keep a picture of her parents but she declined.

I sent her out to Neiman Marcus armed with her very own Black Card and Elena by her side. The only instructions were to buy a complete wardrobe fit for a mob princess. Mia was uncomfortable with the idea of spending so much money, but she would just have to get used to it.

Since the shopping trip the first day she had been holed up in her room reading and watching movies. On the occasion of an unusually warm May afternoon, she would go out back for a swim but other than that she was a recluse. I was worried she was having issues dealing with her parent’s deaths but she assured me she was fine. Now we were eating Sunday dinner and while she was holding polite conversation, something was off.

“I’ll need to know which college you’ve chosen soon so I can get things arranged,” I said.

She looked up and gave me a thin smile, “Yes, of course,” she said, looking back down at her plate of lasagna. She had barely touched it. It was her favorite, I had learned that on the first night when Elena made it.

“Is everything okay Mia?” I asked using the last strand of patience I had.

“Everything is fine Carlo, thank you,” she gave me another polite smile. I was beginning to hate that smile.

“I want you to be happy here Mia. This is not a prison, you can come and go as you please.”

“Really Carlo, I’m fi—“

“Enough! You are not fine Mia!” I roared. “Tell me what the hell is the matter so I can fix it!” Instead of scaring her like my outburst would most grown men, I saw a flicker of annoyance in her eyes. She put her fork down and looked at me head on.

“Nothing is wrong Carlo. I like to read, so I do. I like to watch movies, so I do. I like to go swimming, so I do. You have given me everything I could possibly need and more, I’m content.”

“I want you to be happy Mia, not just content. You haven’t left the house in over three weeks, that’s not normal. You know you have full access to any car in the garage and a limitless credit card. You should be out doing normal things teenagers do. I was already working for my father when I was your age so I don’t exactly know what normal is, but I do know that it is not sitting in your room for weeks on end.”

“What do you want from me? You want me to go out and party with friends and go to the mall and spend money on things I don’t need just because I can? That’s not me.”

“Yes, no. Jesus Mia, I don’t know. I just want you to be young and enjoy it. Be happy.” I was never at a loss for words but I just didn’t know how to articulate what I was feeling and what I wanted, and on top of it all I was pissed because I didn’t know the first thing about teenage girls.

“Carlo,” she groaned, “look, I don’t know anyone in this new life but you. I’m sure when I start school things will change, but until then…” she trailed off.

“What about Gina?” I asked, suddenly feeling triumphant. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? The only other thing she did was talk on the phone with Gina.

“What do you mean? Gina lives three and a half hours away, and I am supposed to have moved away I can’t exactly go for a visit.”

“She can come here then, stay for a few weeks.”

“She doesn’t have a car of her own, she can’t just take the family car on a road trip,” Mia sighed.

I could tell she was getting frustrated with this topic of conversation, but my mind had been made up. If Gina coming here would make her happy then I would make it happen.

“Then I’ll just send a car for her, I’ll call her father and work it out.”

There, fixed.

Mia looked up from her plate, the excitement mixed with trepidation shone in her eyes. “You’d do that? She could stay here, at the house? Carlo, you don’t let anyone come here.”

Ah, so that was what was holding her back. She was right of course, I had never let anyone but the house staff and a select few of my men come to my home. I kept an apartment in the city for when I needed to handle business but this was my home. Mia still seemed to have trouble realizing this is her home now.

“It’s true, I normally don’t invite people here, but that’s because I like to keep my business and personal life separate and I do not consider many people personal friends. Mia, this is your home too. Gina is your friend and therefore welcome in
our
home. Understood?”

Mia popped up from her chair so suddenly the legs scratched on the wood floor. She ran full boar around the table and practically toppled me over with a hug. She had never shown such affection towards me and for a moment I was too shocked to reciprocate. She seemed to notice my stiff posture and began to pull away, I didn’t want her to think that she had done something wrong so I quickly pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll take that as a thank you?” I said.

She pulled away and beamed at me, “Thank you so much!”

I chuckled, “You’re very welcome, now sit down so we can finish our dinner.” I couldn’t help but smile. In the weeks she had been here that was the most emotion I had seen from her. I was beginning to think that her parents had caused irreversible damage, but I was starting to see that she was just slow to trust, a trait that would do her well in the future.

Chapter 4

Mia

True to Carlo’s word Gina showed up a week later, bags in tow. I ran down the stairs to greet her in the foyer.

“You lucky bitch! This place is even bigger than you said!” she squealed as I cleared the last step and lunged for her. “I missed your face so bad,” she said as we embraced. We were simultaneously hugging, jumping up and down and squealing when Carlo walked in from the den.

“What in the hell is going on?” he called out, rounding corner. We immediately stopped and turned to face him. “Oh, sorry I thought someone was killing a wild animal or something.”

I laughed, “You wanted me to be a normal teenage girl. We scream, a lot.”

“Ah yes, well lesson learned, be careful what you ask for,” he deadpanned.

At that we all laughed, “Carlo, this is Gina. Gina, this is Carlo.” Carlo came towards us to shake Gina’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Gina,” he said politely.

“Oh no, the pleasure is all mine,” she said as she took his hand and looked him up and down. I smacked her arm and glared at her. “What?” she asked with fake innocence and wide eyes.

Carlo cleared his throat, obviously more than a little uncomfortable with a teenage girl leering at him. “Well then, I’ll leave you two to get settled. Be ready to leave for dinner at six, we’re going into the city.”

“Sounds good,” I said as he turned to walk back to the den.

“Girl you have been holding out on me, you didn’t tell me he was such a hottie!” Gina stage whispered to me.

I could feel my cheeks flame, “Shut up Gina, that’s my new brother you’re talking about!”

“I’m just saying in this case, I’m rooting for some incestual lovin’”

“Jesus, Gina!”

“Hey! Don’t hate me for saying what you’re already thinking.”

“Oh my God, come on you crazy bitch.” I hoped Carlo hadn’t heard too much of that conversation. “I’ll show you where to put your bags then we can go out to the pool.”

“Hell yeah! I need to work on my tan.” Gina said as we lugged her suitcases up the stairs