"I tried calling you." He stares at my hand pointedly until I remove it. I slide the knife into its sheath and slip it under my pillow, next to my gun. I never go anywhere without both of my weapons; definitely, never sleep without them. Still, when it comes to crunch time, I prefer the knife to the gun… No wonder, I had instinctively reached for it in my sleep. It's a knife that saved me all those years ago when my father came after me. A humble kitchen knife, but it had done the job of stopping him from almost killing me.
I had turned eighteen, had come into my own as a man. It was the first time I had snatched a weapon and defended myself against him. It hadn’t been my last. It’s why I have trained myself to use a knife to defend myself. Never go anywhere without it on my body. It’s why I carry that knife—the very same knife from my mother’s kitchen—with me always. A memory of her that I keep close to me, a reminder that I hadn’t been able to save her. A regret that I will forever carry.
"Hey, Michael, you okay?" Luca scans my features, "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
The ghost of my mother, which never leaves me… Which reminds me that I will never forgive myself for not intervening in time to save her life. Though none of that explains the dream I just had.
Who the hell was that woman in my dream? She’d felt so real. Had tasted like life itself. And her scent... That lush, elusive, mysterious scent… Heat tugs at my lower belly.Che cazzo!Whycan’t I get those images out of my head. It had seemed so real, felt so real… I had been convinced I had been in bed with her. I shake my head to clear it and Luca’s gaze narrows.
"You okay,fratellone?" he mutters.
"Why wouldn’t I be?"
"You didn’t respond when I called you. Which isn’t like you, at all, by the way."
I pick up my phone from the nightstand, glance at it. Sure enough, there’s a missed call from him.
"When you didn’t respond, I came over to wake you up. When I entered the room, it sounded like you were in the middle of a dream… Which, going by the sounds you were making, I can only conclude that it must have about some woman—"
I glare at him, and he holds up his hands. "Hey, just tellin’ it like it is."
"What-bloody-ever."
I throw off the covers, throw my legs over the side of the bed and stand up. Hell, if I don’t have a hard-on right now. Not that it matters. There aren’t many secrets between me and Luca. That’s what happens when you are left in charge of your four younger brothers at a very young age. Our father had beaten our mother to an early grave, then he’d turned his attentions on us. I had protected my younger siblings and taken the brunt of his wrath. Luca, being closest in age to me, had had an inkling of what was happening. He had partnered with me, when possible, to care for our younger siblings.
Our Nonna had stepped in after our mother had died, and while she had done her best… It was really me who had taken on the role of caregiver for our younger siblings.
Each of them has been grateful to me ever since; a sentiment I don’t hesitate to use to my advantage, by the way. And why not? I had taken the brunt of my father’s temper, and yet, I hadn’t been able to save my mother from him. A guilt I’ll always carry with me. If I had only stepped in earlier to help. So what, if I had been very young? I had known what was happening. How our mother had silently borne his anger, his rage, his various affairs that he’d insisted were his prerogative as Mafia Don. All of it had contributed to her heart attack at barely forty. It had left me with a healthy disrespect for marriage and a need to grow up as fast as I could, so I could take care of my family…find my place in my clan…and ultimately, have my revenge for my mother’s death.
I brush past Luca, head for the shower, "Have the others arrived, yet?"
"They’re waiting for you."
"Give me five minutes." I glance over my shoulder, "Why don’t you kick off the meeting. I’ll join you, very soon."
2
Michael
When I walk into the conference room on the first floor of my home, I find Luca standing by the window. The sunshine streams in, bathing the entire space in a golden light. It’s November, but here near Palermo, the weather is a pleasant eighteen degrees. The same as it would be in Los Angeles, which is where I had attended university.
At eighteen, I had been the first to leave home to study. My father hadn't been in favor of it, but my Nonna had finally intervened. I wish I could say I was grateful to her for it, but the fact is, she had stood by all those years and watched as my father had systematically abused first my mother, then me.
By the time I had left home, the damage had been inflicted on my psyche. Not only had it toughened me up to survive in a new country, it had also woken up the darkness inside of me—one that had been drawn to being cruel, to exploiting other’s emotions, finding their weaknesses, plotting the downfall of those who dared cross me.
I never forget those who’ve hurt me… Never forgive those who’ve betrayed me… I always repay my debts. In full. That’s one thing my background had taught me. It’s these lessons I took with me when I went to Los Angeles… And I returned, clearer than ever on what I had to do. I would take revenge on my father for what he’d done. I’d bide my time, until I had the opportunity for retribution. Until then, I’d use the lessons he’d taught me to consolidate my influence within Cosa Nostra.
Sebastian, my half-brother, who is also my enforcer, pushes away from the wall. "Mika" he rumbles as he cracks his knuckles, "not like you to be late to your own meeting."
"Not like you to be on time, Seb," I retort. "What happened, you didn't get laid last night then?"
"Did you get pussy for the first time in months…or is it years?"
"None of your bloody business." I look him up and down, "We both know who the women prefer… And it’s not only because I am Capo."
"You’re uglier than me, that’s for sure." He smirks. "Don’t you know? The dark Mafia looks are no longer in vogue. You need to learn to look less like you stepped out of a gangster flick, and more like—"
"A successful businessman?" I take in his camel-colored suit, the blue tie that catches the flicks of ice in his eyes, his dark blonde hair combed back from his face and gelled just right. With his movie-star good looks, he resembles Brad Pitt in his heyday. And it's true that not only women, but people in general, gravitate toward him.