Mobster's Vendetta

Mobster’s Vendetta

Amy Rachiele

Copyright © 2013
Amy
Rachiele

Cover Art by
Pamela
Bergantino

All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system
without the prior written permission of the publisher. This is a
work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and
are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales, organizations, or persons, living or deceased, is entirely
coincidental.

Smashwords Edition 2013

There are three sides to
every story. Mine, yours, and the truth.

Joe Massino, Mob
Boss

Chapter 1

Capo: captain of boss’s enforcers

Megan:

If anyone asked me I’d tell them I’ve known
Antonio my whole life –intimately. This isn’t because we have spent
every waking moment with each other since birth. In fact, we never
spent any time together until recently.

But, my soul was drawn to him even when my
mind didn’t want to be. It isn’t about the danger or his dark
beauty. It’s the connection I feel. He makes me feel at home even
though I am miles away from it.

We have been apart now for three weeks. I
have been caged in this gilded prison for three weeks. Fancy meals,
workout room, pool, repeat.

This separation is painful. If you get
something, something powerful, then lose it, desolation takes over.
It’s both unhealthy and right all at the same time.

“Meg!” my sister, Erin, calls weakly.

“Coming!”

I just finished working out. I use the gym
here every day. I have never worked out before, but boredom took
over. Well, boredom and my run-in with Uncle Tutti, Antonio’s
uncle. Near strangulation is a great motivator. It inspires me to
become stronger.

The only time that I leave
the family floor of the casino is during the slow times. A
bodyguard takes Clarissa and me downstairs to get ice cream from
the small Ben and Jerry’s stand in the midst of the high-priced
shops that line up and down the main lobby hallway. I always look
forward to this escape. Sure, it’s a diversion from the top floor
of
Mancuso Mafia
Penitentiary
, otherwise known as La Bella
Regale Casino, but it is something I have to get me
through.

The bodyguards are relatively nice. Joey is
typically the one on duty when we get our treat. It still surprises
me that Clarissa has been living like this her whole life. I don’t
know how she does it. I, on the other hand, feel like an animal in
a cage, even if it’s a comfortable one.

I typically bring Erin a huge sundae. Chunky
Monkey is her favorite. I think she is well enough to come
downstairs with us, but she chooses to stay upstairs.

“Meg! Joey’s here.”

“I’m coming!”

I walk towards the front of
the suite. It’s not a short walk. Think studio-style with
palace-like,
heavy
gold furniture...an
old-world palace in a modern-day sky scraper.

“Hey, Joey,” I greet him.

He grins at me. Joey is a good looking
guy...well no, he's gorgeous. He fits right in here with his black,
floppy hair scattered around his forehead, but his eyes seem to set
him apart from everyone...they are a pale green. I can see why
Clarissa and my sister, Erin, giggle every time he's around. He is
quite charming. When he smiles, two dimples appear on each side of
his mouth. It's sweet and endearing. But, all the same, I probably
wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.

Clarissa is sitting on the couch next to my
sister. Her short-cut bob of rich brown hair swings when she turns
to me flashing a warm smile. Our stay has been a treat for her.

Erin and Clarissa have their heads together,
snickering. I roll my eyes at their immaturity, but it also fills
me with happiness to see my sister entertained. They have become
very close during our seclusion. Clarissa truly has been a
lifesaver by pulling Erin back from the darkness of recent
traumas.

The traumas run deep. Connor, her
ex-boyfriend...what an ass! He cheated on her. There isn’t a minute
that goes by when I think of his betrayal that my blood doesn’t
boil. And the truth about Dad’s work, being bound to a chair in our
kitchen with a gun pointed at her head...these events revealed my
sister’s insecurities and vulnerabilities.

Clarissa is good for Erin. She is a tough
cookie. She gives my sister coping skills that she desperately
needs. Being immersed in the Mafia lifestyle, even though she’s
trapped at the casino, makes Clarissa a force to be reckoned with.
She learned, like Antonio, to handle and deal with tough
situations.

Joey is the son of Ennio’s right hand man,
Julio. Julio is head of security and an enforcer...I’ve heard him
also referred to as Capo. Joey is in the beginning of his training,
at the very early stages. Being a bodyguard for us is one of the
things he has to do. He is pretty close-lipped about it, but I
still ask a ton of questions and he typically caves. As much as
what goes on scares me, it also fascinates me. I’m not sure if
that’s because I’m in love with a mobster or if it’s because I’ve
been born into this life, albeit ignorant of it.

“You ready?” Joey asks.

“Yeah. You coming, Clarissa?” I ask,
grabbing a sweatshirt.

“I think I’ll stay with Erin.”

“You don’t have to,” Erin interjects.

“It’s okay. Make that two Chunky Monkeys
today, Meg.”

“Got it. We’ll be back.”

Joey and I leave the suite and head for the
family elevator. The red and gold carpeted hallway gleams all the
time. I have mused to myself that little elves come in the middle
of the night to scrub it.

Joey pushes in a security code and we
wait.

“How are things going today?” he asks.

“Ugh. Same ol’,” I shrug.

A door opens at the end of the hall. We both
turn to look. Alex, another enforcer, sticks his head out. My face
automatically moves to offer a greeting, but, when he sees Joey and
I, he quickly pulls his head back in and shuts the door. No hello.
Alex is another one of the people I’ve met here that I really like.
He seems genuine and has been extremely helpful with anything that
Erin and I have needed, so this behavior is a little odd.

“What was that about?” I ask
quizzically.

“Who knows,” Joey responds.

The elevator dings, and we step in. Mirrors
line all of the walls. I know behind those mirrors are cameras.
There are cameras everywhere.

“I think I’m going to take my ice cream
upstairs too. I’ll eat with Erin,” I tell Joey.

“Nah, eat downstairs. It’s your big
adventure to the casino floor,” he coaxes.

“I’d rather eat in the suite with Erin and
Clarissa. Erin’s birthday is tomorrow, and it’s not too early to
start celebrating. Besides, I always feel guilty when I leave with
you.”

Joey raises his eyebrows at me.

“Why? Do you have a thing for me, Miss
O’Neill? You’re a beauty, but I don’t need my face knocked in by
Tonio,” he jokes, his dimples deepen when he laughs.

“Ha ha,” I deadpan.

Everyone knows that Antonio and I are in
love. I miss him so much. But I am struck by what Joey said. Joey
is in his twenties, much older than us...and he’s afraid of
Antonio.

Joey’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and he
shifts his coat to the side, his gun and holster poking out, as he
takes his phone out and answers it.

“Yeah...(pause)...No...(pause)...I can do
that...(pause)...Okay.”

Joey hangs up and presses a new floor button
- B.

“Are we are going to the basement?” I ask
skeptically.

“Yup. We’re going on a field trip.” He
scrubs his hands together maniacally. He is joking, but an eerie
feeling overcomes me. Mice and gross things are usually in
basements. Is there a special mob morgue down there? My mind is
running away from me. I have been cooped up too long.

Joey grins at me. “What’s wrong with
you?”

“Nothing.” I shiver. “I’m just not a big fan
of basements.”

Joey shakes his head and laughs at me.
“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

Says the mobster -
Sure, no problem!

The elevator dings. The doors slide
open.

Chapter 2

Enforcer: mafia henchman,
who
enforce
the
rules

Megan:

A half-dozen enforcers are lounging around
on leather couches. All faces turn to us. All conversation
stops.

“Hey!” Joey calls out to no one in
particular.

This place never ceases to amaze me. The
basement is like a whole other world. The conversations resume. The
doors slide shut behind us as I scan the room.

The first thing I see, because you can’t
miss it when you step out of the elevator, is a huge screen
television. It swallows the whole back wall of the basement. A
football game is on. The players are enormous like in a movie
theater. In the corner is a kitchenette. Mini stainless steel
appliances, complete with a Keurig coffee pot. The granite counters
are covered with open chip bags and salsa, metal food trays, and
plastic dishes.

“Hey, Meg,” Ty yells over when he sees Joey
and me.

He is another enforcer/bodyguard that I see
a lot. I wave as I continue to examine the fortress. A poker table
for eight sits against another wall. Over to the left is a massive
steel door with a huge glass window next to it.

“So, Meg, this is where we hang out.” Joey
gestures around the room.

I have never met most of these guys before
and feel their eyes follow us as we make our way through the room.
Ennio, Clarissa’s father, owner and boss, is very strict about who
is allowed on the family level.

Joey walks me over to the steel door and
opens it. Lined floor to ceiling are television screens. Levers and
switches cover a desk. Every inch of the building appears to have a
camera trained on it. I knew this, but seeing it freaks me out. Not
that I have never thought of it before, but seeing the actual place
where they come together is unsettling.

“Here is the command center where we can
keep our eye on everything.” Joey winks at me.

Tables, entrances, and slot machines are all
on the screens surrounding the room. Joey shuffles me in front of
him. “This is Gilly. He sits a lot.”

Gilly punches Joey in the arm. The man
appears to like his doughnuts and coffee. Two empty boxes sit next
to him, piled on top of each other, and a bunch of coffee cups
overflow the trash can. Gilly has a sweet face with a stomach the
size of a basketball.

“Don’t listen to him, Megan. I hit the floor
too.”

I have never met Gilly, but he knows my
name. He has probably seen me through the cameras. I hope there
isn’t one in the suite. I scan the frames trying to find my room,
but don’t have time to finish searching because Joey takes me
through another door.

“Come on. I have to grab a couple of
things,” he says, waving for me to follow him.

Inside the door is a huge bowling alley
style room, but it’s not for bowling. Large targets are at the one
end - huge black pinned up outlines of people with circles on their
chests hang from the ceiling.

A firing range.

Makes sense. They must need to practice
shooting. I have seen first-hand that Mafia is a tough
business.

“What do you think?” Joey asks pulling me
from my thoughts. He is rifling through some boxes and putting some
equipment together.

“Umm. It’s nice. Very high-tech.” I wonder
to myself if the police have anything so spectacular.

Guns and ammunition hang on the walls. Steel
boxes are piled in a corner. There are five firing lanes with
goggles and headsets positioned at every station.

I walk over to the first lane. A small
handgun rests on the counter, seemingly innocent and arbitrary. I
pick it up. It’s cold and heavy in my hand. But it’s not as weighty
as the one the guy had trained on my sister only weeks ago.

I take aim, wistfully. The gun is a natural
fit to my hand. My eye’s predisposition draws to the center of the
target. I’ve done this before conflicts with my memories, ghostly
recollections of the past.

Joey startles me. He is behind me while I
observe the target.

“You wanna give it a try?”

“What? Me?” I ask, shocked. He wants me to
fire a gun in here?

“Let’s see what you got, O’Neill!” he eggs
me on.

Joey grabs the hand gun from my hand and
slips the clip out, replacing it with another he grabs from the
metal boxes. It clicks in place. He turns the butt of the gun to
me, expecting me to take it.