Opening the door to my room the color of lavender and white greet me in dim lighting. I slip out of my dress, letting it pool around my feet and walk along the room naked until coming into the bathroom, the mirror above the sink reminding me of who I am.
A Bravado.
I can wear a sweet dress, put on lipstick, and put on diamonds, but deep inside my chocolate-colored eyes, I can see who I’m meant to be. A monster.
Not taking my eyes off the mirror, I turn the shower on hot and watch the steam roll about the room. I may have the blood of a gangster, the power men wish they had at my fingertips, but sometimes… I wish I could just run away from it all.
Maybe, just maybe, I’m not cut out for the life of mafia.
Kieran
Sitting in the driver’s seat of Romeo’s car, my hand under my chin, I stare out the window. We smell of smoke, and my knuckles ache from hitting Harold in the face. It doesn’t matter how many times I punch someone, I swear my knuckles will never get used to the bone against bone.
He wasn’t supposed to be there. When Romeo and I broke inside the salon to trash it, Harold got stupid and grabbed a gun from under the register. There was a struggle, candles were knocked over onto a pile of towels, and a fire started. The motherfucker is lucky to be alive. I could have left him in that salon, but I dragged him out by his fucking hair and kicked his ass in the street, reminding him death will be his next reminder for payment. I twist the BVLGARI watch on my wrist so the gold bezel is face up.
“Did you see that bitch?” Romeo asks. I don’t immediately reply causing him to take his eyes off the road to gauge my reaction. I find it comical when he gets excited like this, it’s unlike him.
He’s talking about Leona Bravado. My sworn enemy. Ours actually. I haven’t seen her in many years, not since the disappearance of her father, she was just a kid then. She’s grown. A woman. A fucking vixen if I ever saw one. People talk, I’ve been told Leona is a princess, spoiled, and nothing to worry about. But seeing her tonight, I’d say that girl has more courage and guts then some of the men that work for us. The way she bolted from the car and told me to step down, the look on her face when she stared at me. She wasn’t afraid, she wasn’t alarmed the least bit.
“She didn’t even act scared. What if she says something?” Romeo continues, panic lacing his voice.
“She won’t,” I mumble against my hand, still looking out the window calmly. She was barefoot, which I find attractive for some reason. Gives her a down-to-earth vibe that I’m not used to.
“How do you know?” Romeo breaks into my train of thought, again.
I finally look over to him and drop my hand to the armrest.
“Because, she knows the rules of Omerta.”
Romeo looks back at me, as much as he can without wrecking the fucking car. Every family in the mafia follows a code called Omerta. It’s born into our blood and stabbed into our heart. We do not talk to authorities or anyone outside our circle. Our lips sealed no matter if it’s in our defense or against another. You talk, you die. I guarantee her father, uncles, and cousins preached this to her. In our lives it’s like teaching a child to look both ways before crossing the road. It’s basic survival. She won’t say anything.
“Exactly, she’s not some little girl, she might—”
“She’s a problem.” I know, I interrupt him, finishing his sentence. Leona is different than any Top Boss. I’ve never in my life heard of an empire handed to female but her father did just that before he disappeared. He gave it all to her. A woman with power might be the only thing that terrifies me.
THUD THUD THUD
Startled awake, with one eye open, I glance to the windows for a hint of what time in the day it is. The sun is barely starting to rise, and the sound of someone banging on my front door has my head jerk in that direction. Sitting up, I grab my Armani sweats from the chair next to my bed and slip them on, making sure to grab my Berretta that’s fastened underneath.
The banging continues, the urgency pissing me off. I look to the clock on the microwave, it’s only six in the morning. I’ve only been asleep for two hours. Whoever is at my door better have nine lives because I’m going to kill them twice over.
Unlocking the chain and deadbolt, I open it up finding my father looking at me with wide eyes and a sweaty face. He doesn’t look like he’s even been to bed, he’s still wearing what he had on last night.
“What are you doing here?” I jut my chin.
He shoves past me, bursting into my apartment.
“I gave you a fucking job, and you screwed it up!” He sneers, making himself at home, he heads to my kitchen and starts jerking open cabinets as if he’s looking for something.
“What are you talking about?” I ask half asleep, shutting my front door.
I’m never awake at this hour. I hate the sun, and I hate people. He knows this, so why is he here babbling on about the hit Romeo and I took care of last night is frustrating. I’ve worked my way to my position in this family and I shouldn’t have my goddamn father at my door asking me questions before the sun rises. I was given a job, I did it. I’m not some damn kid needing a scolding, and I sure as hell don’t need him questioning my ethics. My fuse is short and I tend to go overboard when it comes to talking to other humans, but I get the point across and we get paid. If he wanted someone to pussyfoot around the situation he should have asked someone in the crew to do the job.
Finding what he was looking for, he snatches a glass from a cabinet and fills it with faucet water. Taking a long drink before finally turning around and looking at me.
“You burned down the goddamn salon!” he yells, throwing the glass at me. He misses, and it hits the wall, shattering into a million pieces. I don’t budge, I cross my arms and wait for his temper tantrum to subside.
“You killed Tina, you son of a bitch, and now we gotta kill the husband before he talks!”
This is news to me. I didn’t kill anyone last night, I’d remember.
I open my mouth to inform him of this and he walks around the counter holding his hand up to shut me up. My jaw tics with irritation and if he wasn’t in the position, he is in today I’d tell him how tired I am of him flexing his goddamn ranking.
“She was in the back of the salon in a tanning bed when it burned down. Her husband is in the hospital beat to fucking hell and you’re going to finish it.”
“Shit,” I groan, not knowing about Tina in the back is a step back, but the husband in the hospital comes as no surprise. “Is he talking?” I’ll get dressed and end his life right now. I’m not one to have lose ends untied.
“Not yet. But he will,” Dad says, his voice a little calmer than before.
I sigh loudly. Harold won’t talk. He knows better, but with my dad here this early in the morning stressing out like some damn bitch… I feel pent-up, stressed.
“Did anyone else see you and Romeo last night?” he asks. My eyes pop to his and Leona Bravado flashes in the back of my head. That dress, her gorgeous face. With the heat of the fire on my back and the anger coursing through my veins, she was a sight for sore eyes.