Getting Everything I Want

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• Consumed by the Mafia   Ch. 131 - Fresh Start

  Lucy POVIt had been a year.A year since I pulled the trigger and watched Vito's body drop like dead weight in the solarium. A year since the smell of blood sank into my lungs and stayed there, thick and metallic. I still dream about it; his final breath, the spray of red against glass, the sound my scream made when I realized what I'd done.I should've crumbled, and honestly, I almost did. But the months that followed, spent in a hospital with padded walls and forced calm, taught me how to live with it. Not erase it. Not forget. Just... live.And somehow, I did.Somehow, I found a quiet corner of life to call mine. A sliver of peace. And an old friend who somehow reminded me I was still human."God," Jared shouted as he took the seat beside me, arms folded across the stone railing of the terrace, "it's like the world decided to keep one secret patch of heaven just for us."He was right. The breeze carried jasmine and salt, the hillsides rolled like a painting, and the sea below shim

• Consumed by the Mafia   Ch. 130 - Roots and Ghosts

  Michael POVVinnie had been talking for twenty straight minutes. That was twenty minutes too long."I'm telling you, it's the humidity. That's what's messing with your mood," he said, dragging his suitcase through the private terminal. "You should've moved to Vegas with me. Sunshine, no taxes, and Sio in a bikini all year round. What more do you want in life?""A world where you shut up for five minutes," I muttered, adjusting my sunglasses. I fucking hated planes, and Vinnie knew the last thing I needed was to be annoyed the whole way to the airport. I didn't even want to go on this stupid trip.Sio laughed softly behind us, tugging her oversized carry-on with one hand and holding a smoothie in the other like she'd been born in a yoga studio."You two have missed each other," she said with a smirk. "This is adorable.""One of us has," I grumbled."I missed you too, Michael," Vinnie said in a mock pout, slinging an arm over my shoulder. I shrugged it off immediately.As I moved throug

• Consumed by the Mafia   Ch. 129 - Family Time (or Else)

  Michael POVI was in my office when Marie walked in, a silver envelope in her hand, sealed with gold wax."Special delivery," she said, placing it gently on my desk.I opened it slowly, already knowing what it was.A wedding invitation.Paul and Gio. Tuscany. A vineyard. Private ceremony.I stared at the words for a long time. They didn't feel real, at least not in my world. Not anymore. I'd spoken to Viv and Paul briefly over the last few months, but it was all business. I had no idea they were even planning a wedding. And to be honest, I wasn't sure I cared.I didn't have time for things like this. Celebrations felt trivial when I had an empire to rebuild. I tossed the envelope aside, already deciding to send a gift along with my regrets.But of course, I had a little sister who never let me go cold for too long. Amy always found a way to pull me back just enough to remind me I still had a heart buried somewhere under all the scars.Right on cue, my phone buzzed. I wouldn't doubt sh

• Consumed by the Mafia   Ch. 128 - New World

  Amy POVWatching Zander bleed out, gasp for breath, and actually die before my eyes solidified my choice. I was never going back.I cried. I prayed. I begged, promising myself, and whatever else was out there, to just let him live. And somehow, he did. Zander was shocked back to life, his heart beating once again, then rushed into surgery while I stood helpless in the waiting room, still covered in blood.I waited alone, uncertain of my future. It wasn't anyone's fault. Michael had a kingdom to clean up. Paul was with Lucy, helping her face her own demons. Aunt V was in Italy. And Niko... well, we all knew where he was.All I had left in this life was Zander and honestly, that was all I needed.That's why, when he woke from surgery, I had a white dress and a priest waiting. A rushed, impulsive wedding, right there in the hospital. I needed that bond between us like I needed to breathe though.And Zander? He needed it just as much as I did.Now, months later, we were happily married, a

• Consumed by the Mafia   Ch. 127 - A New Era

  Michael POVFive days.That's how long it had been since Amy hugged me goodbye at the front steps of the estate, Zander's arm slung around her waist and a fresh scar peeking from beneath his shirt. The bastard had taken a bullet to the stomach and somehow lived to put a ring on her finger. Her car was packed with everything she cared about, and she didn't look back. Not even once. And somehow that hurt even more.I didn't blame her. Hell, I admired her. She walked away from the blood and the power and the legacy like it was nothing. Like she wasn't raised in it. Like it hadn't shaped her bones the same way it shaped mine.But she got out.Zander opened the passenger door for her, and I remember thinking how odd it was for me to be envious of a man like him. A man who didn't know how to hold a gun the right way, who'd flinched the first time he watched someone bleed. But he got the girl. He got the escape. He got peace.And I got this.Empty halls. Ghosts in every room.Paul was gone.

• Consumed by the Mafia   Ch. 126 - Almost Out

  Amy POVJust as a crowd began to gather around the solarium, I slipped away.This world wasn't mine anymore. For once, my brother had no immediate threat looming overhead. He'd have hell to pay for everything that happened in the last few hours, but he'd get them all in line. One way or another, Michael would win their trust.As for me, it was time I started trusting myself, trusting the life I could have. A smile crept over my face as I walked back inside, back to the man I loved so we could get the hell out of this house.For a small fleeting moment, I really saw the possibility of a future we all wanted. That was quickly shattered the second I stepped into the kitchen.The tile was streaked with blood leading straight into the basement, a large pot of soup spilled over the stove, and one man stood there, hands folded in front of him. Dylan looked like he was waiting for something, maybe me."Are you really going to leave?" Dylan asked, his voice casual, but something coiled beneath