Amelia
I won’t do it.
I can’t believe Frankie has confessed his love to me as though it’s that easy. It isn’t that easy,
and it sure as hell isn’t fair. I fell for him once, and he decimated my heart. That won’t be happening again any time soon. I won’t let him get to me.
The moment the words came out of his mouth, I want to hit him. Those were the words I wanted ages ago when we were together the first time. It was what I wanted. True commitment and love, and he told me then it could never be, and now I won’t ever let it happen, no matter how much I
feel for him.
He’s taken the closure I got and ripped a gaping hole into it. I’m questioning everything now, everything that I’ve decided and wanted.
And I choose never to be broken again-by any man.
I sleep for what feels like ages, and when I wake up, my phone has numerous missed calls and
text messages from my father. I text him that I’m fine, and he replies almost instantly, saying he’s coming to see me.
As I sit on my bed, I fume. This marriage wasn’t supposed to be binding. It’s an arranged marriage. We agreed to keep it casual, with no obligations. Now he’s declaring his love for me as though that changes everything.
It doesn’t change the past, and it doesn’t change how he broke me. It doesn’t change the months I grieved for us, our relationship, and what we could have been.
I had a funeral for my feelings for him, and now I’ve moved on.
There’s a knock at my door, and Joel’s voice floats through it, “Mrs. Sorvino, your father is
here to see you. He’s in the garden.”
I open the door. “Thank you, Joel. Can you show me where he is?”
“Of course.” He offers me a smile and leads me downstairs, around the banister, and to the back. There’s a deck outside. Vines provide shade and grow up the walls and over them. My father strides toward me when he sees me. “Mia!”
He cups my face in his hands and kisses both my cheeks. “Thank God you’re okay. I heard
what the Catalan crew tried to do to you.”
“I’m okay, Papa,” I say. I’m being honest because I will be okay. I’m stronger than anyone thinks I am and smarter, and I can hold my own, even against Frankie.
“Did they hurt you?”
“No, they shot at me, but they missed. Come, let’s sit,” I say, tugging his hand toward the
furniture in the corner.
A waiter brings two glasses of red wine and sets them down. My father takes a large sip of his
and stares at me. “I’m worried about you, Mia. This Dave really was no good. He’s not going to stop coming after you. What did you do to him?”
I sip my wine slowly. “All I did was break up with him when he got aggressive with me. He treated me like I was his possession. Everyone treats me like a possession, as though I can be exchanged, bought, sold, or given away at a whim.”
I look at him pointedly, and he meets my gaze. “Sometimes, you need some direction, and guidance to somewhere safe, Mia. You have made a lot of poor decisions in the past.”
“So, you’re saying this is my fault?” I raise an eyebrow. “That it’s not Frankie’s for putting
Dave in the hospital?”
“If you hadn’t been with a drug dealer in the first place, none of this would have happened,”
my father says, sipping his wine again. “But please, Mia, I don’t want to fight. I’ve been stressing about you since Alessandro let me know what’s happening.”
First Frankie and now my father-only when my life is in danger do all the men around me declare their love for me. Something I’ve craved and groveled for, now they’re worried they’ll lose me.
It didn’t matter months ago, and it didn’t matter years ago. It didn’t matter that my mother abused me or that my father barely spoke to me growing up.
No, I must forgive everything they have done and move on. I can maybe forgive my father, especially now as I look into his worried eyes. He clearly does care for me. I know Frankie does, too, but Frankie broke me the hardest, and I just don’t know if there’s any coming back from that.
I reach out and take my father’s hand into mine. “Papa, I promise I’m fine. I took care of myself the way you taught me to. You would have been proud of me.”
“I am proud of you, Mia,” he says, stroking my hand. “I’ve always been proud of you. I’m
sorry, I’m not a more emotional father or more involved. I have a family to run. I don’t have time for things like that. But I do care for you, my child.”
I tear up and look away, wiping my eyes quickly. I pick up my wine and sip it. “Do you know what’s going to happen now?”
“They are busy discussing the best course of action,” my father says, sitting back with his
wine. “I’ve made it clear that you are under no circumstance to be harmed at all, or there will be problems between our families. Alessandro took my meaning.”
Of course, my father would throw the weight of our family against the Sorvinos. I give him a small smile. “He can’t have liked that too much.”
“He has enough enemies without making another,” my father says thoughtfully. “He will make
sure you’re safe. That’s all I want.”
I sigh and trace the rim of my glass with my index finger. “I feel like I’m a caged bird, Papa,
and that I will never be free to fly.”
My father gives me a sad smile. “Mia, you are so beautiful and so special. I’m sorry that you
were born into a family like ours, but it does nothing good to dream. It will just make you more miserable. The best thing you can do is accept your situation and make the best of it.” “Is that all there will ever be?” I ask miserably.
“There’ll be moments of joy. You’ll see, you’ll find them, my darling. But you are going to
make many sacrifices to get them, like I have,” my father explains, finishing his wine. He sets his glass down and watches me. “Maybe having children…”
“No children,” I say shortly. “I am not bringing children into our families, not so they can live
a prison sentence like me. If it’s a boy, he joins the business; if it’s a girl, she’s married off as a bartering chip. How is that fair? How will that bring me joy?”
My father keeps quiet before he finally says, “There can be good things about the family, Mia,
especially if you learn to love them.”
“You can’t learn to love things, Papa. You either love them, or you don’t,” I say with a note of
finality.
“That’s not true,” my father says. “You’ve learned to love me with time and patience.”
I falter slightly, then quietly say, “You can’t love someone who breaks you, Papa.”
“How have you been broken, Mia? Speak to me.”
I don’t want him to know how Frankie hurt me before, but he continues, “Frankie made a
foolish mistake letting you go once. It doesn’t look like he’s going to do that again. Maybe you can learn to trust him again.”
“He told you about us?” I ask.
“I always knew,” he says. “It wasn’t like you hid it very well.”
I look at my hands. “There is no redemption for Francesco.”
Frankie
Amelia hasn’t looked me in the eye since I confessed my love for her, but there isn’t time to wallow in self-pity. I can’t deal with her and Jose at the same time. As it is, I can’t leave the house to deal with the family business like I normally would, and it’s driving me insane that I have nothing to do to distract myself.
Joel walks over to where I’m standing in the garden, getting some fresh air. “Boss, Don Sorvino wants to see you. It’s a family meeting.”
I nod, adjusting my suit and running a hand through my hair. “Where?”
“The dining hall, right now,” Joel says. “He says it’s time to discuss the problem with everyone.”
“Thank you, Joel,” I say, walking away from him and back into the house. I walk into the
expansive dining hall to find my brothers sitting at the table, as well as my father, some uncles, and Katya, Alessandro’s wife.
She’s a formidable character on her own. Next to my brother, they are king and queen.
I take my seat and look around. “Is there anyone else we’re waiting for?” “Katya’s father will be here shortly,” Alessandro says, looking around.
As though on cue, he walks in. “Good afternoon, everyone,” he says with his thick Russian
accent.
“We are ready to begin,” Alessandro says as he sits down. “As you all know, Don Catalan has declared war on the Sorvino family. He wants Frankie, and he wants him dead.”
“Why?” my father asks, stroking his beard. “Why Frankie?”
“A guy attacked Amelia and Frankie put him in a coma, with some permanent injuries. It turns out it’s Don Catalan’s bastard nephew.”
My father shakes his head. “He’s using that as an excuse to move into our territory. That man has wanted to own New York since he ascended.”
I listen, taking in what they’re saying. My uncles are muttering, but it’s Katya who speaks next, “We’re obviously not handing them Frankie, which means there’s going to be bad blood between their family and ours.”
She looks around as though challenging anyone to disagree with her. I see a small smile on
Alessandro’s lips; he loves her power plays. She continues, “Frankie needs to lie low, away from New York, until we can figure out what to do with the Don and his soldiers. New York isn’t safe. He has many people here.”
I sit straighter, looking over at Katya. “We shouldn’t run from him. It’ll show him we’re weak.”
Alessandro speaks, “We aren’t going to run. If they bring war to our door, we will fight, but
for now, they just want you. So we’re going to hide you away until we can come up with a plan to stop him. This isn’t a request, Francesco.”
When he uses my full name, it means business, and everyone at the table murmurs. I look into Alessandro’s eyes and bow my head in submission, I may be key to the family, but he is the Don. He leads us.
Katya starts speaking again, “It’ll have to be out of state, some affiliate establishments that
you can visit and check on in different states. Instead of keeping you in a safe house, which undoubtedly will be traced, we’re going to keep you moving. Not settling in one place for too long will make you hard to trace. Burner phones only, and an untraceable VPN for emails and video calls to us.”
I nod. I’ve done this for other members who’d needed to hide, so it is familiar to me. We don’t
take the typical approach to things.
Hiding in safe houses just makes you a sitting duck because Katya is right. They always find out where you are.
Katya’s father stands. “We are happy to have him check in on our establishments for Katya as well,” he says. “That should keep him plenty busy.”
At least I’ll have work to distract me from Amelia’s coldness. I nod to the old man, and Alessandro claps his hands. “It’s decided then. You leave tomorrow morning for Pennsylvania. Do you want us to tell your wife?”
“I can do it,” I say with a frown. “She won’t be happy about it, I’ll bet, but it’s probably best it comes from me.”
Alessandro nods and stands. “Thank you, everyone, for coming. We will meet to discuss what
to do about Don Catalan in the future, but for now, our priority is to keep Frankie and Amelia off the radar. That means telling no one of this plan, not even your most trusted guard.”
Everyone murmurs their agreement, and they start to stand, heading for the door. I meet Alessandro’s eyes, is that worry? I don’t have time to find out. He turns and leaves through another door with Katya next to him.
I leave through the main exit into the entrance hallway and then climb the stairs slowly. I reach Amelia’s room and knock. “Amelia? We need to talk.”
“We have nothing to talk about,” she calls back. She clearly thinks I want to talk about us.
“About the plan for our safety,” I say calmly, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me.
“You need to pack.”
The door swings open. “Where are we going?”
“On the run, essentially,” I explain. “We’re going to be out of state at least until Alessandro
figures out how to deal with Jose.”
She frowns. “How long will we be gone?”
“You know I don’t have the answer for that, Amelia,” I say honestly.
She sighs and looks away before meeting my gaze. “How much should I pack?”
“Don’t overdo it. We’ll be in a standard car that won’t draw attention to us, but you can probably do an overnight bag and one piece of large luggage.”
She nods. “Thank you. When are we leaving?”
“In the morning,” I say. “Although I would prefer to leave tonight since no one would be
expecting that.”
Amelia looks behind her. “If I get packed quickly, can we go to Papa’s house? I want to say goodbye because I don’t know when I’ll see him again.”
“Okay,” I say. “That’s probably a good idea, something else they won’t expect from us. Leaving from there, we can jump onto the interstate and head straight for our destination.” “Where are we going?” she asks.
“The less you know, the safer it is, but I promise to keep you safe. Pack your bags. We’ll go
straight to your father,” I say.
I rush off to my room and pack my bags. There’s a knock on my open door, and I see Dominic standing there. “You put a guy in a coma?”
“He touched what wasn’t his,” I comment, looking at my brother seriously.
Dominic chuckles. “You make me proud, and here I thought you didn’t like violence.” “Sometimes it’s necessary,” I say, packing my bag.
“What are you two talking about?” Alessandro asks as he walks in.
“Dominic is jealous I was the one to put Dave in the hospital,” I smirk at Dom.
Dom shrugs. “It’s okay. I’ll get over it. I have other people to see, so travel safely, Frankie. If you need me, call.”
“I will,” I say, giving my brother a brief smile. He leaves, but Alessandro doesn’t. “When do you want to leave?”
“I know you said the morning, but we’re going to Gustavo’s place now and leaving from there
tonight.”
“I think that’s wise. I said the morning, so if anyone does betray us, that’s when they’ll expect
you to leave the house. I was going to suggest leaving tonight. Leaving Gustavo’s is a bonus. Did Amelia protest?”
“She knows it’s for our own safety. I think she’s accepted that,” I say, putting in a few lastminute items. “Alessandro, do you think you can stop Jose?” “I’ll die trying,” he promises me.