Capo of the Mafia

Isabella's point of view 

Diego was sitting at the head of the table, a navy blue sweat shirt replaced the black shirt he was putting on this morning, I took my seat across from him, inhaling the sweet aroma coming from the delicacy before me, the cook seems to have outdone herself, the table was filled with all kinds of food, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, pasta, sea foods and even fine wine.

“Do you always eat like this?” I asked, helping myself to a plate of pasta. He took a sip from the glass of wine in his hand, before he dropped it on the table. I watched him pick a file folder, this action made me sigh. Even at dinner, he was still working.

He didn’t even bother to look up, he just nodded his head. Before I could repeat my question the double doors opened, a tall man in black suit stepped in and walked directly to Diego, he leaned close to him and whispered some words in Italian. Capo, that was the only word I could hear, even though I strained my ears to listen. Diego’s expression remained the same, but I didn’t fail to see the faint tightening of his jaw.

“I will handle it later, not now.” He said in a very low voice. The man nodded and left quietly as he had come in. Whatever he came to discuss must have been urgent, I set my forks down as the door closed.

“Capo?” I questioned.

“It’s the Italian word for Leader,” he replied, swirling the wine in his glass, he took a sip and placed the glass back on the table.

“Leader for what?” I sat upright waiting for his response.

His gaze shifted to mine, “You ask too many questions.”

“And you give too few answers.”

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze not leaving me, he studied me for a long moment. “You are not ready for my answers, Isabella. It’s better you remain ignorant of what I am involved in.”

I didn’t back down, I held his gaze.

“What if I don’t want to be ignorant.” I asked, resting my elbows on the table.

“Be careful with what you wish for?” He replied, picking up the folder he was previously going through. He stood up all of a sudden and stepped out, leaving me alone in the dining room.

****

I wandered into the hallway after he left, I should have gone back to my room but the faint voices I heard made me curious, I followed the sound which seems to be coming from his study

“The shipment will be arriving next week,” a deep voice said.

“Make sure it is clean, no police and no names. Make sure nobody talks, do whatever it takes to silence them,” I heard Diego reply, I gasped as realization hit me, this wasn’t just an ordinary business, the order depicts he was involved in some shady business.

I began to step back in fear of getting caught, suddenly the voices stopped and that ignited my fear, the door swung opened.

“Isabella!” He exclaimed.

“I….. was…. just.. I..”

“Eavesdropping,” he finished flatly, his eyes narrowing.

My heart began beating and pounding against my chest.

“What type of business do you run? I deserve to know.”

“Whatever business I run is none of your business,” he said, closing the distance between us in two strides.

“I deserve to know, I married you and I live with you, I have the right to know what type of man I am sharing a roof with.” I said, with a trembling voice. He just stared at me for a long time. Then he stepped closer till I felt the heat of his breath against my skin.

“Listen carefully,” he whispered, his voice low and commanding.

“I run what everyone knows as the the De’ Luca corporation, but that is only on the surface. Beneath the surface is something much darker and older than even me, it has always been passed down to generations in the De’ Luca household, my grandfather was in it, same with my father till he passed it down on to me. My family built this city from the shadows. We make sure rules are never broken even when we break them ourselves.”

I knew what he was talking about, I’ve read about them in newspapers.

“Mafia,” I whispered.

His jaw tightened, but he didn’t even try denying it.

“We call it family here,”

“You kill people?” I asked in fear, stepping back from him.

“Sometimes, when it’s necessary or when they deserve it.”

“Does my father know about this?” I asked in a rush,

“Why drag me into this?” my chest tightened and my breath became shallow.

“Your father dragged himself into this, there are a lot of things you don’t know about the man you call your father,” he replied, his tone hardening.

“Your father used my name, my money and my network to keep his business going and alive, he made promises he couldn’t keep, his daughter was the only collateral he could offer and I accepted.”

“Collateral,” I whispered, did Jessica find out about this, is that why she ran.

“You are part of my world now, you know what I am involved in, you can’t walk away and you can’t run.”

“It would have been better if you are not aware of this, but you are so damn stubborn. Now that you know what I am, will you stop trying to get to know me, I know what you are trying to do. I am not a good person Isabella, I cannot be a good husband to you, but I promise no harm will come to you”