Owning the Mafia Don

Sophie

She slid into the washroom booth hurriedly and dialled the familiar number.

“Pick up, damn you, “she mumbled, aware that Danielle had been alert while she watched Sophie leave.

Worthington picked up almost immediately.

“Yes my pretty little bird?’ he said solicitously,’ What do you have for me?’

She scowled. She hated him but her sister needed her. There were times in the early morning when she came awake, her arms around Paddy who inevitably crept into her bed, citing nightmares, when she asked herself what she was doing.

The knowledge that she was in some way or the other, contributing to the downfall of the people who had helped her so generously, ate into her.

“My Lady and all the Saints,’ she would whisper, ‘I am sorry. Forgive me, please… But Sondra means more to me…’

Now she stiffened and replied,

“I think the Boss is arranging something special for himself and his wife on the 16th of this month.’

There was a moment of silence. She pictured Worthington, tugging at his thin moustache, thinking.

Then he spoke.

‘Good girl. Then we shall have to act on that day.’

Sophie was slightly bewildered. ACT? What did he mean?

“Uh…huh?’ she queried and the voice at the other end of the phone hardened.

“Little bird,’ he said,’ You just follow orders and then your sister will be freed.’

The phone went dead.

Sophie leaned against the wall, hugging herself, wondering what she was doing. The more she thought about it, the guiltier she felt.

***

Danielle

The ice-cold woman stared at her quizzically when she got back to work. The older woman was on alert. She had noticed Sophie was zoned out while working, not like the enthusiastic firebrand who had joined the Club months ago. Now she went through the motions of working, barely responding with an acidic retort if someone made an offensive remark.

The girl was on autopilot, thought Danielle uneasily. Something was eating into her but what?

She tapped the cigar end to her teeth before lighting it.

She had to watch Sophie a little carefully.

Something was not right.

***

Aiyana

She sat up straighter in her chair as she listened to Ben Church. Her friend had not let her down. He had sent her the classified information he had on Dmitri Rudenko’s movements.

She was astonished to learn that he had been behind the blast that had killed Schwartz wife. At the time, it had not been uppermost on her mind. She had been chasing leads to get at the mafia don and was not terribly interested in who he had destroyed along the way.

‘Collateral damage,’ as her boss used to say dismissively. It was only after the damage rammed home into her and Howard was killed so brutally that she changed her attitude.

For a while, she sat, staring into space. Then she made up her mind.

Reaching out, she picked up her mobile phone and dialled the Head Manager at her ranch.

‘Brian,’ she said in her usual direct way, ‘I might not be back for about a month.’

The man seemed as calm and collected as ever. He accepted her decision and promised to give her daily updates. He assured her that the horse she had chosen as her own would be well fed, groomed an exercised regularly.

She replaced the phone and sat crosslegged on the bed, thinking.

She needed to shift to Hollowford for a while. Her gut instinct told her that Dmitri was going to strike. Church had groaned when she had confided in him. He knew she had a basic premonition when something was about to happen, a feeling that had led them to the right place at the right time on more than one occasion. She had the strong urge that the disgruntled Dmitri was going to do something.

Something drastic.

It was not just based on her hunch. She had taken a course in profiling at Quantico, the FBI headquarters. The way the man was making his moves that made her feel certain that he would come out in the open.

If so, she swore, her mouth tightening, she would be waiting for him.

She wanted him to pay for the death of Howard. The man had left him to die. Straightening her shoulders, she began to put her plan into action. First, she needed a small place to stay in. She could not stay on forever in a hotel room. She needed some equipment. She always carried her guns and she patted her bag to check if they were there.

And she needed to get close to Lucien Delano and his family to assess the threat first hand.

Schwartz was her key to that.

She smiled. The man had been a gentle, tender lover and she pursed her lips.

“Who knows what may happen in the future?’ she spoke aloud to herself and then began to act on her ideas.

***

Proserpina

I lay back on the bed in the ultrasound room, watching the two doctors fearfully as they studied the screen and conferred in low voices.

The second doctor who had appeared was Dr. Krishna Rao, a kindly, dark man with a gentle manner that was endearing.

He immediately put me at ease.

He patted my hand on seeing my uneasiness.

“It’s just a routine check-up, young lady.’ He smiled and proceeded to join the hard-faced woman who he addressed as Alice.

After a while, he came and sat beside me, his tone serious as he said,

“I believe you have had twins ?” he murmured thoughtfully.

I nodded, biting my lip. ‘Yes. I…I was nineteen years old…’

He nodded,

‘And they were fraternal twins, right?’

I smiled slightly.

“Yes, a boy and a girl.’

He nodded and noted something on his tablet. The other doctor sat behind him, listening, her face blank.

‘And after that?’ he prodded gently.

I swallowed.

‘I have a one-year-old son…’

‘Mrs. .. umm…Delano…’ he checked the paper in his hand as he went on, kindly,Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

‘Child, once in around a thousand cases, we come across a rarity. Women who have had a set of fraternal twins sometimes conceive… a’

I watched him with bated breath.

He looked me in the eyes kindly as he smiled and said,

“Another set of twins.’

I nodded slowly. I had had a hunch; all the symptoms I was experiencing today had been there when I was carrying the twins. The extreme exhaustion I was now experiencing was one of them.

But then I had been younger and many other problems had been before me. Yes, I had been blessed to have wonderful support from the Mother at the monastery…

Turning my head, I smiled tremulously at him, placing my hand on the slight swell of my belly.

‘You are one of those lucky people.’ he smiled gently and squeezed my hand,

As I lay, staring at him, although I had had an inkling before I had come to meet him, he said softly, beaming,

“Yes, my dear child. Congratulations. You’re going to have another set of twins.’