Page 41 of Mafia And Taken

After finishing my cereal, I got dressed for work. The thought of seeing the children today lightened my heart. I loved my job, and I adored the children I looked after. I had been planning on going to college and training to be a teacher, but my marriage marked the end of that dream.

I would just have to hope that Alessio would let me carry on working for at least a while. I wondered if he had still been at my apartment this morning, would he have stopped me from going to work today?

I didn’t know. And I didn’t care. He wasn’t here, so I was going to go to work whether he liked it or not.

I was glad to have my job to occupy my mind throughout the day. The children in my kindergarten class always lightened my heart and made me happy. They were so innocent at that age—unspoiled and looking forward to whatever life would offer them.

I busied myself with my work throughout the day, desperately trying not to think about Alessio forcing his way into my bed again tonight—and about what he might demand of me.

CHAPTER 17

ALESSIO

I would have liked to have stayed and had breakfast with Cate, but I received a text from Marco saying that he needed to see me right away this morning.

When I arrived at the mansion, I headed straight into the office to talk to Marco.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” said Marco tersely. “We’ve got a problem.” I could tell from the tone of his voice that it was something to do with our siblings rather than a problem with the business.

“I came as soon as I could. Which one is it this time, Camillo or Danio?” I knew that it would be one of the boys. Our sister, Debi, never caused any problems—she was a little angel. And if I had to guess, I would say that it was Camillo that had done something. Danio was a good kid, they both were really, but Camillo had the knack of getting into more mischief.

“It’s Danio.” That surprised me. “I’ve had a call from Alfonso Tocchini.”

“Let me guess, it has to do with his daughter, Carolinne.” Danio and Carolinne had been best friends since they started kindergarten. They were both fifteen and in the same class at the Italian School. The Italian School was where most of the children of the Fratellanza families went to school. They had extra security and the staff who worked there knew how to keep their mouths shut.

“You’ve guessed right,” answered Marco.

“So, what happened?”

“Danio, haul your ass down here right now!” Marco hollered up the stairs.

I watched as Danio came down the stairs slowly and stood at the bottom of the staircase, shifting from one foot to another and looking annoyed as hell.

He was fifteen years old and was still in school, although he was keen to be initiated into the Fratellanza. However, after our parents had died, Marco and I had brought up Camillo, Danio, and Debi very differently from how we had been raised by our deranged father.

Danio was impatient to join the Fratellanza, but Marco and I had decided we wanted our younger brothers to have as long a childhood as possible before entering the Mafia world. Therefore, Camillo had not joined the Fratellanza until he was sixteen, and Danio would also have to wait until he turned sixteen next year to be initiated.

“Okay, so what happened?” I asked my youngest brother.

“It was nothing. Carolinne’s dad is just blowing this up into something much bigger than it needs to be.”

Marco narrowed his eyes at Danio. “Alfonso is Carolinne’s father and has every right to make a fuss if he thinks propriety is not being followed.”

I looked at Danio, but he didn’t say anything and just scowled at us both.

It was obvious that Danio wasn’t going to be forthcoming, so instead, Marco filled me in. “Alfonso caught Danio climbing out of Carolinne’s bedroom window late last night.”

“What the hell, Danio?” I sighed.

“We were just having our movie night. Ever since Alfonso has said that Carolinne and I can’t go to the movies together, we haven’t been able to have our weekly meetup at the movie theatre, so we thought we would have it at her home instead.”

“In her bedroom, though?” argued Marco.

“Nothing happened—we were just watching a movie,” said Danio, glaring at Marco.

“You know why Alfonso put a stop to your movie nights, Danio,” I said. “He explained it to us, and I can see his point. Some people might say that it looks like you’re going on a date every week with Carolinne. Her family has already promised her in marriage to someone else and she will officially be getting engaged soon. Alfonso thinks it isn’t good for Carolinne’s reputation to be seen hanging around with another boy for long periods of time.”

“She’s my best friend. Guys and girls can be friends, you know, without screwing each other.”