Chapter 9

Aliyana "Mercer Island has its beauty, but it's fuckin' cold." Filippo murmurs, looking out to the water. "Want some?" Deno asks extending the joint they decided to smoke. Xander looks at me from the top part of the boat, where he is sitting with Marco and Camilla laughing about something. I had to give the guy credit when he tried to sit next to me. However, Filippo and Gabriel beat him to the punch. They more like pushed him away. I drop my gaze from his when Marco catches me staring and Camilla whisper's something in his ear. "Guilia was just telling me your art is getting Exhibited in a few months." Leonardo yells from the bottom of the boat, where Guilia, him and Mischa are sitting. "I am, Gabriel is going to be my male model," I say back as Gabriel grabs me by the waist and starts tickling me and I scream when Filippo joins. We ride on the boat for another hour before we hit shoreline and Guilia, Camilla, Mischa and myself rush to the house while the men stay behind. "Oh my gosh, it is so freaking cold. I need a hot bath and thick piece of that chocolate cake, Liya." "Cake? Your skin needs to be clear before the wedding. You already have a few zits around your chin," Camilla says as Mischa runs to the bathroom. "Zits go away, and their marriage is arranged. It isn't like Leonardo can call off the wedding if he wanted to. And I doubt he'd want that," I wink at my sister as she drops her gaze, saying nothing. I am not sure if it's because she still thinks I have feelings for him or the truth behind my words. "Maybe but it would decide whether she remains the only one. We live in a world where a man is king and we are peasants," Camilla argues as we walk toward the stairs leading to the rooms. "Hardly the case, a woman is as important to her husband as the children she'll give him," Guilia says as she begins walking up the carpeted staircase taking off her jacket. "Male children." Camilla corrects. "Well, your man seems quite content with the female one he has," I interject, diminishing what she says. Something about it rubs me the wrong way, and I think it is the truth behind her blunt words. "My man wants an heir just as much as any of our men do, if not more so. Don't let his love for one child blind you from facts." "Camilla is right, Liya." Guilia adds as we get to the rooms. "If that's the case I am happy I get to choose the man who would be my husband. I will add gender discrimination to the list of no no's," I say and Guilia and Camilla laugh. "Choose? That is not how it works." "Liya, has a choice who she wishes to marry. But judging by Xander who couldn't keep his eyes off you maybe it won't be for too long." I actually snort at the thought of it. The guy and I were never going to happen. He might be in with the Catelli's and Camilla's cousin but he is not going to be anything to me more than a boy I know. "My cousin is very handsome and he'll make a great Capo in a few decades," Camilla winks and Guilia giggles when I make a haste exit to my bedroom. Opening my door, I slam it shut on the two women still chatting, happy in a way that my suspicions regarding Camilla and my sister is just that, suspicion. But a part of me restless, like I am missing something. Stretching my neck, I walk toward the bed, that is overly exaggerated in its glory, like it is fit for a queen. Guilia's room is not this big and I asked her why, but she dropped her face and smiled saying nothing. I am glad I have this room, because the white bath tub on the left is calling my name. My jacket is gone in a second and my jeans are open as I begin prepping my water. The tiles around the bath tub is cold, so I throw the towel from the wooden rack on the floor for my bare feet. I shimmy out of my pants, when a throat clears, "I wouldn't do that Miss Capello." The deep voice scares me and I drop to the floor with a small squeal. My hands hit the tile in time to save my face from a blue eye and I am not sure why but I laugh. Salvatore swears under his breath, as he begins walking closer and my bedroom door opens. He is wise to turn and move fast to the walk-in cupboard. "What are you..?" Guilia rushes into the room and helps me up as I still laugh a bit. I do well to keep my eyes off the walk-in closet. "How did you fall? And why are you laughing so loud? I thought you were crying." "I fell while trying to take off my pants, I thought it was funny. What are you doing so close to my bedroom, I thought your room is on the other side?" "I was coming to tell you that your friends are here, Papa must have changed his mind." "Or he decided to fire Matteo." "Yes," She touches my nose and she open her mouth to say something but shuts it again looking at me. "I'll be down later." "Okay, take your time." She leaves and I slip my pants back on, before closing the tap. "No one besides Deno knows I'm here." Salvatore says coming closer as I walk to the bed and sit. He does the same, "I got that footage you asked for, I watched it but I think you would want to see this Miss Capello with your own eyes," Salvatore is the gift I was given what feels like a lifetime, because he is the only one who I can trust right now without blinking. "Is it that bad that you had to drive 3 hours and sneak into my room?" "I took a jet, I landed while you were on the boat," He sits next to me leaning forward. "I'm freezing, you might as well lock the door, so I can shower." He smiles and that scar of his reminds me why I can trust him. Of why I get up and begin taking my clothes off with him in the room. A lot can happen in a short span of time. People can become killers. Your friends can turn out to be your enemies and your new guard can turn out to be the closest person in your life and also a friend you take your clothes off in front of. "Would you like me to take your warm clothes out?" "Yes, and a bra and panty too. What did you tell Papa you were doing?" "I didn't say anything Miss Capello, your father got some news about one of his shipments, seems like there is still someone killing the Catelli's soldiers." "Any idea who it is?" I ask him as he goes about getting my clothes ready and I hop into the bath tub, soaking up the heat that scorches my elbows. "No, I think Deno is working on that. I'll let you know if I hear anything." "Your cousin seems nice," I say to him as he brings my clothes to the bath area. His stare is harsh, as he scowls at my naked flesh under the water. "She is nice to your face, but remember she still sees you as a minor. She has yet to know you are the root to a rose with deadly thorns." My skin flushes and I turn my back to his wandering gaze. That was enough torture for today. Because that is what it is to him, torture. "Salvatore." "Yes, Miss Capello?" "Have you always chosen God over everything else?" "Yes. Though I must admit Miss Capello, you tempt me at times." "But doesn't that make your faith stronger?" "I, I, yes, it does." "What would you do with your freedom if it were granted?" I ask him for the seventeenth time since he told me about his Catholic upbringing. "I would be a priest, and serve God until my last breath." "You gave me the same answer 17 times," I point out. "And it was 17 times you asked me the same question. Does it not warrant the same answer?" I get up after washing the soap suds off my body and like the good man he is, he holds a towel open. I look at him, so human, but his restraint is exceptional. "Sometimes, I wonder Salvatore, if your answer is really an answer or more of a confession," His jaw tightens but he says nothing to that. I tighten the towel and change into the black track pants and long winter vest, saying nothing to the silky bra he chose and grab the jersey from his outstretched hand. My hair falls from its makeshift bun, as I jump on the bed patting the other side. Salvatore is my little slice of heaven and I am his temptation to hell. While he is a made-man, he killed once, a long time ago, by mistake and has never killed since. He is loyal, beastly looking and once you get to know him, quite funny. "Let me see it. Do you have it on your phone?" I ask him, "No, I brought my laptop," He gets off the bed and pulls the bag from underneath the bed and I wait patiently for him to set it up. The video begins playing and I watch the familiar face talking to the hooded figure. "Who is that?" "I don't know," Something catches my eye and I pause. "Is that...?" "Yes, Mero," "What was he doing there, he said he was going to train." I wait and see Mero walk to the back of the restaurant. 10 minutes go by before he walks back out and leaves just as the hooded person leaves. "That isn't all," Salvatore kills me further when he switches videos and the video changes to the outside where the hooded figure is jumping into the car with Mero, just as Jack Creston walks out. It isn't longer when a group of men covered in black grab him and throw him in the van. I sit back and take in all that I have just seen. "Are you going to show Deno?" Salvatore asks and that is the big question. Am I? What was Mero thinking. Was he tying up loose ends? "There are too many questions that need to be answered. Tonight, keep yourself hidden. I hear Mero and Michel are downstairs. Find out where Mero is sleeping and check if he brought anything with him. He is sentimental and untrusting, which means whatever could implicate him would be on him. He won't stay on the property, you would need to break in to his room." "What are we going to do to him?" Salvatore asks the question I don't know the answer to. "If it were anyone else, I would feed him to the wolves, but he is my friend, I can't just sentence him to death without knowing for sure." "I understand. But Deno would want something." "It isn't Deno that we need to worry about, it's Marco. I heard him talking to a man earlier when I decided to go snooping around the place. He mentioned something about kidnapping Dylan Creston, and me helping with that. Talking about helping, it is safe to say Gabriel is innocent which means we should let him in on our little side thing." "I agree Miss Capello, Gabriel is innocent but he is very loyal." "And? What? He isn't loyal to me?" I question Salvatore, as I take in the cream walls, and brown wooden dresser with an oval mirror. "Do you notice this room seems old?" "Yes, the DeMarco's lived here, many years back. This room belonged to Berenice Antonella DeMarco, wife of the first Godfather in America, Elladio Gaspare DeMarco." I sit up and smile, "Serious? And I get to sleep in her room?" Salvatore smiles, and his scar stretches, as his face transforms into a carefree version of himself, "Yes, he loved his wife so much that he kept her here in this manor locked away for only his eyes alone, and if you go to the library downstairs, there is a desk with a hidden compartment. My mama said his journal still is hidden in that desk, and so is pictures of his beloved, Berenice." "Did he spend his free time writing about her?" I find the story hard to believe, but Salvatore always knows something about someone, which is why I think Deno gave him to me. A Holy man for his brother's unholy sin. "I don't know what he wrote in his journal, but I know he built a dome in the back garden when she died and buried her inside it. I can show it to you tomorrow if you like?" "Yes, tomorrow I want you to let everyone know you are here, as my guest. That way we can go exploring and you can be my very own Chaperone." We exchange a look and something warm and calming comes over me as I smile in glee. Over the months, spending time with Salvatore didn't help with the pain of what Marco did to me. Of how he used me, gave me hope and then tossed me aside without a backward glance, he ruined me. I take a deep breath, and look at the man who has shown me that I am better than what Marco Catelli made me feel like. Salvatore has taught me that loving myself, and staying true to who I am is my greatest weapon when it comes to my foolish heart. I am stronger now, I am Bratva and Italian and I am proud of who I am. I spend the afternoon lying on the bed, forgetting about Mero, Marco, my sister Elise who left for Chicago a month ago and everything else, as I stay lost in my mind trying to decide how to ask Salvatore to be my male model. Gabriel is an artist's dream, with his sculpted angular features. But Salvatore is a painter's forbidden fruit. He would be perfect in my showcase. Diamond and Kylie, two polar opposites, and the eye of their affection, Salvatore, the untouched fallen angel. The thought of forcing him to do it doesn't seem right, because he wouldn't want to strip naked in front of me. I did it in front of him, because he said he has never felt temptation with a woman. Like myself, Salvatore is a virgin. I jolt, when a hard knock comes on my door, "Aliyana. Come down it's dinner time." I take a deep breath and see a sleeping Salvatore next to me, open his eyes and the laptop which is still open on his torso move. "I'm coming," I say to my brother, who doesn't sound too joyful to be knocking on my door, which means I must have slept through the afternoon. "Move your ass, I'm hungry." "Sto arrivando," I'm coming, I yell. I hear him leave and turn to watch Salvatore stretch. "I'll wait ‘till you gone then check Michel's room in case Mero left something there." "Aren't you hungry?" "No, I'll grab something from the kitchen on my way out." "Out? To where? I want you here," I tell him as he scowls. "I can't stay here with you, if you want me to come tomorrow it has to be like I am only arriving Miss Capello." "Fine, but let me know when you are safe." "I am your protector, why do you insist on being mine?" The question takes me a minute to actually ponder. I never considered it, but was I his protector? "I don't know, maybe I just want you to stick around a bit longer." His mouth goes thin at my answer and his jaw hardens but he says nothing in response and like that I leave him, and my safety net behind.