Born To Kill: The First Meeting

“Wake up Luna! Wake up! It’s your birthday! Happy Birthday!” Salvatore and Marina were jumping on my bed. I covered my face with my pillow. I don’t want to wake up because if I do then the engagement party will really happen and I really have to marry Primo. I don’t even know the guy, let alone marry him. I haven’t even seen his face and I won’t bother looking it up on the internet. I guess we’ll just have to see each other later. 

“Salvatore! Marina! I’m awake. Aren’t you two too old to be jumping on my bed? You’re not children anymore.” They sat down next to me and they wrapped me up in a tight hug. I hugged them back. 

“I may be a killer but I’m still your little brother and I’d do anything for you.” I pulled back and I pinched his nose. “And I may be a teenager but I’m still your sister. “ I kissed Marina’s cheeks. “You both will always be my baby brother and sister.” Salvatore pouted. He doesn’t like it when I call him a baby. On the other hand, Marina loves it when I treat her as a little sister. I smiled. 

“Here’s my gift.” He handed me a small rectangular box. “I wonder what this could be.” I assumed it was a bracelet or a necklace but when I opened it I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Are you serious? How did you know?” I hugged him really tight. He let out a chuckle.

“I’m not blind Luna. I saw how you looked at that dagger when we were at the store. I decided to buy it for you. But I was careful around Father. Keep that with you at all times.” Tears started to pool in my eyes. I looked at Salvatore and he was smiling ear to ear. 

“Don’t you dare ask if I like it because I don’t. I LOVE it. Thank you Salvatore!” I hugged him again then I stood up and hid the dagger in one of my bags. “Here is mine.” Marina handed me a tiny box. I was curious as to what could be inside this tiny box. When I opened it, it was lipstick. I raised my eyebrow at Marina. Salvatore looked at Marina’s present and laughed. “That’s what you wanted to give to Luna?” Marina pouted. I pulled the cap off the lipstick. It was a reddish shade. “Thank you Marina. I could probably use this.” Suddenly, she grabbed the lipstick from my hand. “You both thought that this is just an ordinary lipstick. Well, think again.” She pressed the bottom of the lipstick and a thin knife came out. My eyes widened and Salvatore had his mouth wide open. “I found it online and I knew it was perfect for you. So no one would suspect that you have a deadly weapon in your purse.” She gave me the lipstick and I hugged her really tight. “You know I love you both, right?” they nodded and we hugged each other.

 Salvatore went outside and I went to the bathroom. I took a long and soothing bath to make sure I was clean and presentable for my future husband. After what seemed to be an hour of preparing, Marina helped me put on an emerald green sundress that barely reached my knees and went well with my fiery red hair. I slipped on my 5 in. heels. Mother told me to wear these heels since last week so I could get used to them. Marina also suffered the same faith. Truthfully, we’re already used to them. Marina and I wear these when we train. Just in case someone tries to kill or kidnap us during a party. 

The engagement will be held here in our house. The guest list is restricted to the closest family of the groom and bride and the consigliere of both mafias. Mother was downstairs. She was busy preparing for the party. She was double checking all the decorations and the food. She wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. The party was still a few hours away so Marina and I went to the pantry to look for something to eat. I almost lost my balance when Salvatore jumped out behind the barrels of wine. 

“What are you two doing here?” I rolled my eyes. I grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it in my mouth. “I’m hungry, Salva. Mother doesn’t want me to eat anything except for salads because she wants me to be as skinny as I can get.” He laughed at me and I shoved a piece of bread in his mouth to shut him up. 

“Luna, I want to play a game. How good is your hearing?” I raised my eyebrow. What is going on in my little brother’s head? “Pretty good, why do you ask?” He grabbed my hand and dragged me to an empty hallway. Marina followed us. “Father will not be back until later and Mother is busy so we have this corridor all by ourselves.” I looked around and Fabiano wasn’t in sight. “Where is Fabiano?” He pulled out a blindfold.

“I asked him to help Mother. I promised him that I would protect you. Here, put this on.” He handed me the blindfold and I put it on. “What’s this for Salvatore?” I could hear them walking away from me. “We want to test how good your hearing is. We want you to find us by just listening to our movements. I’ll throw things at you and you have to dodge it.” I laughed. My brother and sister are crazy.

“And if I do all of these things, what do I get?” He was silent. I thought they already left but I heard his breathing from across the corridor. “If you manage to catch us and dodge all the things I throw at you, I will let you pick one more knife from my collection and you can keep it. But if you don’t, we get to have all your desserts until your wedding day. Deal?” I scoffed. Are they serious? Are they really? I giggled.

“I accept your challenge good sir and madam.” I heard them laugh and they started moving. “Catch us if you can Luna.” I ran towards them. I know this house like the back of my hand. I heard them move and I could sense a small object flying my way. I swayed to my left. I heard the object dropping to the ground. A little later I could sense another object rolling towards me. I jumped and the object hit the base of my high heels making my landing unstable. I slowed down to balance myself. I started running again and I could hear movement. I was nearing a turn so I slowed down. I was listening for any movement. I heard a chuckle to my right and I walked towards the sound. 

“Where are you guys?” I heard another chuckle and I sensed I was near. I turned around because I thought I heard a sound coming from behind me. I started walking backwards very slowly. Suddenly I hit something hard and I struggled to regain balance. I was about to fall when a pair of muscular arms grabbed my waist to prevent me from falling. I removed the blindfold. My vision was focusing on the face of my savior. When my vision was clear, I saw an unfamiliar face. He had a dark expression on his face. I stood up and he let go of my waist. 

“Thank you for catching me.” His expression hadn’t changed. I looked at him and I noticed that he was tall. He seemed to be around 6’7 and his body is perfectly toned. I was nothing compared to him. I was only 5’3 and I’m wearing 5 inch heels and he still towered over me. “Luna!” I looked behind me and Salvatore and Marina were there. 

“Primo.” Salvatore spoke in a deep tone. Marina hid behind me. My eyes widened from sudden realization. This man in front of me is my future husband. I suddenly felt really embarrassed from what happened moments ago. Primo nodded at Salvatore.

“This is Niccolo, my brother. This is Dino and Soren, my right hand.” Primo looked at me from head to toe. I felt really uncomfortable. “I’m sorry for what happened.” Salva looked at me. 

“Let’s go Luna. Mother is looking for you.” I nodded and turned around. Salva and Marina followed behind me and when we were out of sight I let out a huge breath. “Let us never speak of this moment ever again.” Salva and Marina laughed. “Agreed.” They answered and we went back to my room. The party was to start soon. Mother wanted me to change to the dress we bought for the event. It was a black gown that barely reached the floor. It has a huge slit that reaches my thigh and it fits my upper body really well. I didn’t want to wear it but Father chose it for me. How sweet. Marina wore a simple blue dress that matched her golden hair. I sat in front of the mirror to fix my make-up. Afterwards, I waited in my room until I needed to go to my father's office. Fabiano knocked on the door and I immediately knew what it meant. I opened the door and went out. 

“Be good Luna. Make your father proud.” Mother said before I could leave the room. I simply nodded and went on my way. 

I stood in front of Father’s office. I held the handle with shaky hands. I could hear voices from the other side. When I opened the door, all eyes were on me. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to say something but before I could open my mouth, Father walked towards me and took my hand. He led me to the center of his office. Inside the room were Primo and his companions along with his father Giovanni Monticello, Fabiano, Salvatore and Father. Father’s consigliere Antonio and his son Domenico were also there. 

“Giovanni, this is my daughter Luna.” Giovanni held my hand and kissed it. I tried to hide the disgust from my face. Giovanni took my hand and led me to Primo. We shared a quick glance and then my father spoke. “We should leave them.” The others agreed and they left us in here. We were silent. I was about to speak when he reached inside his coat. I immediately thought that he was going to pull out a gun and shoot me. I was surprised when he pulled out a tiny box. Inside it was a ring with a big diamond. He held out his hand and I placed mine in it. He slowly slid the ring on my finger. I admired it on my finger. It looked beautiful. He still didn’t say anything. “Thank you.” I blurted out. He didn’t answer. Should I have said nothing? He grabbed my arm and I flinched from his touch. He looked at me with an expression I didn’t dare read. I put my hand on his and we walked out the room towards the main hall where all the guests were waiting. 

During dinner, the table was set to accommodate all the guests which is to say, not that many. I sat across from Primo and beside me were Salvatore and Marina. They were engaged in a conversation about the Cosa Nostra and the Russians. Marina and I were the only ones not talking. She wanted to see the engagement ring so I showed her my hand. After dinner, we were allowed to go upstairs. We changed into our pajamas and we stayed in our room while they were still downstairs drinking and talking. I didn’t eat much during dinner so I decided to go downstairs to the pantry. I put on a robe before I left my room. 

“Where are you going?” Marina asked. She took her robe and she followed me downstairs. “I’m hungry Marina.” She just nodded and we went to the pantry. I took a piece of bread and a slice of cheese. Suddenly, Marina went inside a secret passage. There are a lot of secret passages in this house. It’s an escape route. “Marina! What are you doing?” I followed her and we ended up in a corridor. There were voices from the inside of the room. We went to the room next to it. There was a peephole and we peeked inside. Primo and his brother Niccolo were there and also Dino and Soren. Fabiano and Salvatore were there too. 

“Did you see your fiancé Primo? She was hot.”Niccolo patted Primo’s shoulder. Primo was silent. “What did you think about her Dino?” Dino didn’t answer. Niccolo asked the same question to Soren but he too didn’t answer. “Did you threaten to kill your men if they stared at your fiancé? She isn’t even your wife yet and you act so possessive.” Primo looked at Niccolo; his expression turned a different kind of dark. Suddenly, Father walked in with Giovanni. 

“Primo, what is it that you wanted to talk about?” Father took a seat. “I want to discuss Luna’s security.” The way he said my name made the hair on the back of my neck rise. Father motioned Fabiano and Salvatore to move forward. 

“This is Fabiano. He is my most trusted man. He has been Luna’s bodyguard ever since. And this is my son Salvatore. At the moment, he keeps his sisters safe.” Primo inspected both men. Fabiano and Salvatore had their chins up. 

“I decide whether they are trustworthy.” He turned to Fabiano. “Are you married?” Fabiano looked him in the eye. “Yes. For 15 years.” Niccolo stepped in. “That’s a long time. Your wife must be old. You may have your way with Luna if you wanted to.” Fabiano didn’t react. He looked at Niccolo then to Primo. “I am faithful to my wife. Luna is like my daughter.” Primo seemed satisfied with his answer. 

“I trust you will keep Luna safe up until our wedding.” Fabiano nodded. Primo turned his attention to Salvatore. “He is family. Surely you have no doubt about his capabilities to protect his sister?” Father exclaimed. Primo looked at Salvatore from head to toe. “If you are worried that I’d look at my sister the wrong way you are mistaken. I vowed to protect her from anyone who would do such things.” Primo didn’t answer. He simply nodded. Just then, Marina sneezed and all eyes were in our direction. Their hands were on their guns. We stepped back and Father opened the door to the room where we were hiding. 

“I knew you’d cause trouble.” He grabbed Marina by the arm and slapped her. I stepped in and covered Marina. Father raised his arm. I expected to get slapped but Primo grabbed Father’s hand. Fabiano and Salvatore grabbed their guns and the others followed. The men in the room all had their guns loaded and they pointed it at each other. 

“You have no right to punish her now that you have sworn her to me.” Primo dropped Father’s hand. “You are correct. I have to enforce a new rule for her to obey me.” Father faced me. “For every mistake you commit, your sister will be punished.” I looked at Marina and she was holding her cheek. I nodded. Father signaled Fabiano to take us upstairs. We didn’t wait for him. We went on our way to our room. I held Marina’s shoulder to comfort her. 

“Why were you two eavesdropping?” Fabiano asked when we reached our room. “We didn’t mean to. We were on our way to the pantry when we heard voices. We were just curious.” I answered. I let Marina inside. “Are you going to guard the door again?” He nodded and I went inside. Where do they think I could possibly go? It’s not like they’re not going to find me. I sat on Marina’s bed and I touched her cheek. 

“I’m sorry Marina.” She looked at me. “Why are you sorry? I should be the one to say sorry. It’s my fault Luna. I wanted to hear what they were talking about.” I hugged her. “I promise to be good. I don’t want you to get hurt again.” I stayed with her until she fell asleep. I tried not to think about what happened or what about to happen. Mother walked in when I tucked Marina in. I looked at her but didn’t bother to speak. 

“Luna, I would like to talk to you.” I kissed Marina’s forehead and I took off my robe. “What’s there to talk about Mother?” I hung the robe and went to my bed. “I know you don’t like your father’s decision about you marrying someone you don’t know. If I could persuade him I would but…” She stopped talking. I looked at her and I actually felt sorry. “Our decisions don’t matter here. I want you to understand that.” I rolled my eyes. As if I don’t know. “I know Mother.” She just looked at me and nodded. “Well, goodnight.” I didn’t answer. I lay in bed and pulled the blanket to cover my face. I heard Mother left the room. I sat up and sighed. I messed up my hair out of frustration. Why do they think that women have no place here? Why can’t we just make our own decisions?  I tried to push those questions to the back of my mind. I lay in bed and I tried to force myself to sleep. I tossed and turned but I really can’t sleep. I grabbed my robe and I checked outside the door if Fabiano was there. He wasn’t. I walked towards the balcony. Making sure I was quiet as a mouse. 

I passed Father’s office and I heard voices. Apparently, they’re still here. I walked past the door with no unnecessary noises. I reached the balcony. It was snowing out here. It’s the middle of October and snow was starting to pile up. I held on to my robe. I walked near the edge and I climbed up on the balustrade to see the lights over the neighborhood. I was about to sit down when I heard someone talking behind me. I was startled by the voice that I slipped backwards. I thought I was going to fall on the cold, hard floor when a pair of strong arms caught me. I opened my eyes and I saw Primo. His face was so close to mine. A blush spread across my face. 

“You’re not thinking of jumping, are you?” His gaze was stuck on mine. I shook my head. He let me down and I fixed myself. “What were you doing standing here then?” I looked at the balustrade then back to Primo. “I couldn’t sleep so I went out here to see the lights.” He raised an eyebrow. I turn around to look at the neighborhood. He stood next to me. “You have a fascination with lights?” I looked down. His voice was deep and serious. “Yes I do. They’re really beautiful especially at night.” My voice was clearly shaking. I didn’t bother looking at his reaction. I tried to ignore his presence and I tried to climb the balustrade again but this time I sat down immediately and I closed my eyes to feel the cold breeze. 

I didn’t dare look to my left if Primo was still there but I started to hum. It’s a habit I can’t seem to stop. I started humming ‘Safe & Sound’ by Taylor Swift. I’ve heard that in a movie and I loved the tune. The cold breeze on my face and the silence made me smile. Snow started to fall and my head was covered with snowflakes. I opened my eyes and admired the view. A few moments later, I felt the cold get to me. I was starting to feel light-headed. I was about to get off the balustrade when I sneezed. “Bless you.” I looked behind me and I saw Primo. He was still here? 

“Uh thanks?” I stepped off the balustrade and I walked towards the door. His gaze was fixed on me and I felt embarrassed all of a sudden. I faced him. “Well, good night.” I gave him a curt nod and a smile and I went inside. I walked to my room as fast as I could without ever looking back. I felt too embarrassed to see him again after tonight. I went inside and Marina was still fast asleep. I brushed off the remaining snow on my head and I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I sat on my bed to contemplate what just happened. He saw me humming to myself while admiring the snow and lights. He might think I’m weird. I facepalmed myself. But on the other hand, he might find me too weird and break off the engagement. I had my hopes on option two. I lay in bed and tried not to think about how weird I had been while he was watching me. I pulled the blanket over me and I tried to sleep. Not a minute more and I dozed off. 

I woke up the next day feeling groggy and my nose was runny as hell. I guess this was my fault because I stayed too long under the cold. “Marina?” I called out to her to get me some medicine. My head started to hurt. Marina came to my side and she looked worried. “What’s wrong Luna?” She held my forehead and her face paled. “You’re burning up Luna. I’ll go get Mother.” I closed my eyes and tried to focus on something else beside the pain I feel in my head. A few minutes later Marina came back with Mother. She held my forehead and concern was visible on her face. She didn’t speak. I opened my eyes and she was talking to Fabiano. He left and Mother held my hand. “What have you been doing last night Luna? You have a fever.” I groaned. Great. Fabiano came back and he brought medicine. Mother made me drink some of the meds Fabiano brought then she took my temperature. I didn’t even want to know how hot I am but from the looks of their faces it wasn’t that high. Mother let me rest and Marina stayed by my side.

“Where did you go last night?” I felt a little better so I sat up on my bed. I raised an eyebrow at her. “Nowhere. I was here in our room.” I’m not going to tell her about last night. I’m too embarrassed to say what I did. “Don’t lie to me. I saw you leave the room.” My eyes widened. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She looked at me like I was a criminal and she was a cop trying to squeeze out some information from me. “Okay, stop looking at me like that. I went to the balcony to get some fresh air. That’s all.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Okay maybe I stayed too long outside. But that’s it. I didn’t do anything else. I didn’t go anywhere else.” She seemed to believe me. 

“You have a fascination with lights?” She imitated how Primo said those words. My eyes widened. Marina was smiling like crazy. “What the hell Marina? You were spying on me last night?” She started laughing her ass off. “Just long enough for me to say that you really made a good impression.” Oh God. I blushed profusely. She saw how idiotic I was last night. She won’t let me hear the end of this. “God Marina, you saw how stupid I was last night.” I buried my face in my hands. “On the contrary, he seemed to be interested in you.” I don’t even want to think about it. “Stop talking Marina. You’re giving me another headache.” She giggled and hugged me. “I was just curious Luna.” I smiled and forgave her. It’s not like she did something really terrible. I’m just glad she didn’t get a cold like I did. 

A few weeks had passed and Marina’s birthday was coming up. She’s turning 15 and I wanted to give her something special. I asked Mother to keep Marina busy while Salvatore, Fabiano and I looked for a gift. Marina loves music so we decided to buy her a violin. We already have a piano at home and Marina wanted to learn how to play the violin. I wanted her violin to have her name carved on the side so we looked for someone who could do it. After that we went to a shop that sells make-up. I bought her a full set. I bought one for myself too just in case I ever need it. Afterwards, we ate in an Italian restaurant owned by the Castelvetrano. Then we went home. I was careful in hiding the gift. Salvatore and I didn’t talk about the trip even when Marina was asking a lot of questions. 

“Where did you guys go?” She was persistent and I guess she had the right to be. We were a bit suspicious. “We were training.” I whispered to her. She seemed to believe the lie. I hate lying to her. The last time I lied to her, she already knew. But I know she has no clue about the presents. 

The night before Marina’s birthday I snuck out. I made sure that she really was asleep before I left. I went down to the kitchen. I wanted to bake a cake for her. Marcella, our cook taught me how. I asked her to teach me how to cook basic dishes at first and when I got the hang of it, she taught me complex dishes. After that I started experimenting. Marcella, Salvatore and Marina were the only ones to taste my creations and they said it was delicious. I took out a mixing bowl and I prepared all the ingredients I needed. Marina loves colorful things so I decided to make a rainbow cake with chocolate ganache. I made different cake mixes for every color of the rainbow. I lined a cake pan with butter and I stacked the colors accordingly. I already preheated the oven so I just have to put it in and wait for it to bake. I let the cake bake and I made the chocolate ganache. The chocolates we have were imported from Europe and Father said that they were the best. I melted some and added heavy whipping cream. The ganache was done but I felt like the cake would be bare so I made candy melts to go with the chocolate. I spelled out a happy birthday with her name. 

A few minutes later and the cake was done. I had to let it cool for a few minutes before I started putting the ganache on. After covering it with chocolate I put the candy melts on top. It spelt ‘Happy 15th Birthday Marina’ and I was happy about what I made. I put the cake inside the refrigerator and I cleaned up. I went back to our room and I looked at Marina. She was still asleep. I brushed my teeth and I went to bed. 

I woke up before Marina and I snuck out of the room to wake Salvatore up. We both went to the kitchen to get the cake. He took out the gifts and we went back to our room. I put a candle on top of the cake and Salvatore lit the top. Marina was still asleep. Not for long. I counted to three and Salvatore and I started singing loudly. 

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!” Marina’s eyes opened and she was surprised to see us. She started tearing up. We brought the cake close to her. “Make a wish.” She closed her eyes for a few seconds then she blew out the flame. “I’m so happy! Thank you Luna! Thank you Salva!” We hugged each other. I set the cake on the nightstand and we got out our gifts. Salvatore gave her the first gift which was the violin. When she opened it she started crying. She hugged Salva really tight. “I love it Salva.”Salvatore smiled. Next I gave her my gift. She opened it very carefully and when she saw it she squealed. 

“You bought me a whole set? Thank you Luna!” She hugged me and then she pulled Salva in for the hug. She let me go then I gave her the cake. “C’mon, I want you to taste it. I made it last night.” She looked at me surprised. “I knew you were planning to make a cake.” I smiled and helped her to her feet. We went downstairs to the dining room and we set the cake down. Mother was already there and she kissed Marina’s cheeks wishing her a happy birthday. 

“Marcella, can you please bring plates, forks and a knife.” Marcella came back with what I asked for. I let Marina cut the cake so I could see her reaction when she saw the rainbow inside. She slowly slid the knife inside the cake. She made a huge slice for herself and when she took it out she screamed. “How did you make this? It’s a rainbow cake.” I just smiled at her. She gave everyone a slice. Father wasn’t here so we just saved him one. We ate cake for breakfast. We don’t usually celebrate our birthdays not unless there’s an important event along with it. 

After breakfast, Marina took out the violin and started playing a few notes. “Wow, you already know how to play.” She looked at me and blushed. I sat next to her and motioned her to play more. She played the first part of Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata. She was a natural. “Where did you learn that?” She shrugged. “I saw a musician play it and I loved it.” I was shocked. She knows how to play an instrument by seeing someone do it. “That’s amazing. I’m glad we thought of buying that. Did you see your name on the side?” She looked confused and when she tilted the violin to its side her mouth dropped. “I can’t believe it? Thank you!” She hugged me once again. I tried to make the most of it when we’re together because soon I’ll be leaving and she won’t have me by her side anymore. I focused on Marina and Salvatore and I tried not thinking about the stupid wedding.