Chapter 3

There was a sudden thunderstorm in Micosa that night.

Cold air followed him into the room when he returned. He was holding a box of my favorite dessert from a particular Froise pastry shop I loved. He was still acting loving toward me.

"Mia, I'm so sorry I came home late. I got delayed by that business at the port."

He came over to me to kiss me on the forehead as usual, but I instinctively turned away to avoid his touch. His hand paused mid-air, and his eyes narrowed dangerously behind his glasses. However, he quickly regained his composure.

"What's wrong? Did Anna say something to you when she stopped by this afternoon?"

He sounded like he was trying to figure out what was going on in my mind. It was clear that the bodyguard had told him everything.

I stared at him right in the eyes.

"We have been married for six months, Ernest. Was there a moment when you had been true to me?"

Ernest turned quiet. He slowly took off his glasses. Without them to hide his eyes, they looked chillingly emotionless. That was the true colors of a mafia Don who had removed his mask.

"Mia, being true to someone in this circle is considered a luxury."

He crossed his legs while he sat on the sofa. Ernest looked elegant, yet domineering at the same time.

"I've given you a life of luxury that you could never ever have imagined. Every woman in Micosa is envious of your life."

"But what you really want is my kidney, even my life," my voice was trembling.

Ernest burst out laughing as he lit a cigar. Wisps of smoke billowed around him, and his voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away.

"Mia, you need to learn to be grateful. You're just a lone designer with no background and no one to depend on.

"Without me, you would still be spending your time entertaining fat and useless men with fake smiles over a few meaningless designs. I've given you the title of Donna and the protection of the Marinos.

"Now, all Anna needs is a kidney. You are the best match for her in the entire Micosa. All you need to do is donate a kidney you don't even need to save my sister, and I'll still be able to continue pampering you after that. Isn't this a win-win situation for all of us?"

"Win-win?" I laughed in anger.

"You're taking my kidney to sustain the life of the woman you love, and you want me to risk death while in surgery. How is this a win-win situation?"

Ernest took a deep swig of his cigar and slowly blew smoke out of his mouth.

"Mia, stop saying such unhappy things. The surgery has been arranged for the day after tomorrow.

"Be good and stay home for the next two days. I'll get the doctor to visit you and give you one last injection of immunosuppressants.

"If you refuse to cooperate…"

He suddenly stood up and came to me. His slender fingers grabbed my chin with so much force that my eyes teared up from the pain.

"Don't forget that I'm the Don of the Marinos, Mia. I have many ways of making a person vanish into thin air in Micosa. Do you want to experience it?"

This was the mafia's logic. It was their version of Quid Pro Quo. Once they gave a person something, they thought it would give them the right to take everything they could from the person.

"You'll regret this, Ernest," I said slowly with clenched teeth.

Ernest reacted as if he had just heard a joke. He let go of his grasp and instructed the bodyguards in black standing guard at the door.

"Watch the Donna and cut off all internet connections in the house. Take away all her communication tools as well.

"She's not allowed to leave the room before the surgery."

I was in captivity. My room door was heavily locked.

Ernest thought I was a trapped canary in a birdcage after he cut off all communication from me, but there was something he did not know. I was the daughter of the Corleone family. We did not need the internet to communicate with each other.

I sat next to the bed and opened up a button deeply hidden in the layers of my pajamas. A silver sensor the size of a fingernail was sewn inside it. The sensor reacted to a person's touch. All I had to do was press it, and a signal would be sent out to the Corleones.

Five years ago, my older brother, Silvio, took me to the airport looking upset. However, he still said to me, "Mia, people out there are more horrible than you think. If there comes a day that you want to come home, or someone has hurt you, press this.

"It's the family rule of the Corleones. No one would dare touch you, even if you're in Micosa."

I took a deep breath and pressed down hard on that metallic silver sensor. My fingers trembled slightly.

Did Ernest really think I had no background? Let's see how arrogant he could still be when he witnessed the Corleones plant their black flag on the lands of Micosa.