Chapter 2 Family and Choices

Elena winced at the loud voice of her supervisor as he bid her goodnight. She loved working. The part of working with a lousy man? She definitely didn’t sign up for it.

However, as a fresh from high school student who was taking a gap year, she didn’t have many options and she had to take what she could get when it came to her father.

She was very certain that if Mr Krim knew by any chance that her father owned the whole corporation, she would be counting her peaceful days in the company.

Her eyes squinted dangerously the moment she stepped outside and saw Rocco standing beside one of the numerous cars that her dad owned. This was a small time company, one that dad never paid much attention to. Her main reason for picking it when she had fought tooth and nail to work while taking her gap year.

“Young miss, Boss requests that we drive you home immediately, the air is unclear.” He said sternly the strain in his voice was all she needed to know that he wasn’t here to play.

Even though he didn’t come here, Elena was certain that her papa knew her schedule and knew that her next stop was the library down the street. She sighed as she entered the car and Rocco closed the door after her.

“Is papa safe?” She asked after a prolonged silence in the evening bustle traffic. “He’s safe. However, the Santoro’s capo has gone down, things might be unsafe in the meantime and he just wants to make sure that his princess is fine.” She rolled her eyes at his last statement as her mind wandered to the Santoro’s Capo.

She had seen him once or twice. And amongst all the capos she had seen, he had the kindest appearance. Yet, her father had told her he was as deadly as a snake regardless of his extremely kind features.

Growing up, her father told her very little about the power play in their underworld struggles. That was fine by her, she didn’t want to know what dirty things her father had done or was doing. It would only be naive of her to think that her father had risen to where he was from being a mere subordinate of the first Santoro by keeping his hands clean.

The ride home was lengthy with their house being in the deep heart of Milan and Elena slept a large part of the journey only waking up when the car stopped.

“Principessa! I’m glad you are safe” James Mantini bellowed as he saw his daughter, a mirror reflection of his beautiful wife, step into the house.

Despite their numerous tries, he only had this one child with Stella. Although she was a daughter, making her unable to take over his position, he treated Elena well to the best he could for a mafia man.

“I couldn’t go to the library.” Elena whined as she pulled herself away from his embrace “Lena, Lukas just died, things would be unstable for now.

“Your papa just wants you safe.” Her mother said sternly as she strode into the living room, although her tone was stern, the way she gazed at the two people in the room was nothing short of loving.

“You would have to stay at home for the next one week until this matter dies down. You know I can’t let you both know everything that happens in the Cosa Nostra.” He said with a helpless shrug and as much as Elena wanted to argue, she knew she would only be pushing her luck.

“Okay papa. I’ll stay at home, however, can Rocco follow me to get some books tomorrow?” She asked knowing fully well that she would get to go since she already added Rocco in the equation.

Her papa nodded and watched her go upstairs with a sigh. “Is everything fine?” Stella asked the moment she heard the door to Elena’s room door slam shut. Her father had also been one of the Capos and she knew about the matters of the Cosa Nostra to a certain point. “We will only know tomorrow. However, I cannot promise that Elena would not have to do her papa a favor.”

He said and left the living room to his study with Rocco trailing behind him. James had no doubt that his wife would understand what he meant. That was how things were run here.

James' office was large, with more than three doors that led to other places. Neither Elena or Stella were allowed here. “What’s the latest?” James asked as they entered the study with two more men joining him. “The twins were with Luigi when the attack happened. Currently, Luigi has flown in and is handling the matter of death which has been concluded as suicide by the forensics department.” One man said with a slight bow of his head.

“Luigi would of course know it’s not suicide. His next course of action is very important to the Costa.” James said as he tapped on his table unconsciously. “From what I have gathered, there’s no way he would want to stay behind, his multi billion company is completely clean and has no relations to Cosa Nostra or Santoro in any way. He would want to keep his hands clean” Rocco analyzed.

“Just keep watching and let me know if there’s any new development. Also, send Luigi a gift on my behalf, after all, I watched him grow also.” James said finally as he rested his back on his high chair. No matter how everything looked, he felt like anything could go wrong.

Lukas had done a good job at sharing the power. Yet, he retained more than forty percent while the other Capos shared the rest. If that amount fell into someone’s hands at this moment, it would only mean complete eradication or submission for the rest of the Capos. A result no one was willing to see.

After dismissing all of them, James sighed deeply as he brought out a map of where all the Capos were situated. Now was the time to partner with someone to make sure his district could still stand well.  In the Costa, the best way to build ties was through marriage and he happened to have one daughter that was renowned as a heartthrob already.

The more he thought, the more it seemed like there was no suitable candidate, at least, until his eyes fell on one name. He sighed as he looked at the list again knowing very well what people he could really benefit from.

Should he really hand over his daughter to the devil?