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Chapter 24
Last Updated:
2025-03-26 23:59:41
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Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 25
Rafael Madeleine hesitates for a moment, glancing past me at her bedroom door. “We had an agreement,” I remind her. “If I made it so you could come home-”“No. Yes, I know. It’s just… you want to take me to bed. Betsy’s in my room.”My eyes fall on her lightly trembling hands. Her eyes are dark, uncertain, but she holds her head high, back ruler straight.I take a step in her direction, wrap my hand around her fragile little wrist, while I stare at her beautiful, inviting lips. My heart tumbles in my chest. My knees go weak. My mouth runs dry.God, I want to kiss her.She had that effect on me the first day I met her. I knew then, as I know now, that she possesses a beauty and quiet innocence that needs to be protected at all costs.If only I found her sooner. The casino wouldn’t have touched her delicate soul. But it’s not an indelible stain. We can still wash it out.“What, exactly, do you think I will do to you?” I ask her, keeping my voice quiet, my tone low.“I… well, men take
Last Updated : 2025-03-29Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 26
MadeleineBetsy is still peacefully sleeping when we go back to the bedroom. Rafael leans over the bed and picks her up, folding his arms almost protectively around her. Betsy moans softly in her sleep, then turns into Rafael, trustingly resting her head on his shoulder.“No,” I whisper. “What are you doing?”Now that I’m back, I don’t want to let Betsy out of my sight. I kind of trust Rafael with her - he kept her safe when I couldn't - but I want my sister near me. I feel better when she’s close.“If you want me to stick around,” he answers in a hushed voice. “She needs to go to her own bed or we’ll wake her.”My heart tumbles in my chest. I just invited a man into my bedroom. Anything could happen. But the more time I spend with Rafael, the more I can see Dom. He’s hidden by a hardened shell, but I know what is under that exterior.He’s just like me in a way. Shedding one skin for another so he can cope, so he can do his job.At long last, I nod and walk over to the bed to sit down
Last Updated : 2025-03-31Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 27
Madeleine“You belong to me, Madeleine. You have since the day we met.”His words run like a refrain through my head. Over and over and over again. I couldn’t even argue with him, because it was true. I felt it that day we met. It was the day I started to believe in love at first sight.At some point, I fall asleep, still with those words running through my head, his warm, melodious voice lulling me to sleep.I dream of him. Not Rafael. I don’t know him. He’s a stranger to me.I dream of Dom. The man who walked into my church all those years ago.**I was twenty when Dominic Perelli walked into our little chapel, asking for a priest.The other sisters were out for the day, going to the nearby town to do their monthly shopping and then to the movie theatre to watch a film they'd been talking about for weeks. I chose to stay behind. I always stayed behind. Mother Superior always brought me what I needed - she never asked why I didn't want to join them on their monthly excursion. I enj
Last Updated : 2025-04-02Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 28
RafaelBeing a lawyer taught me how to mask my true feelings. I can stand up in front of a judge and jury and lie with a deadpan face. I have no tells, nothing that gives me away, nothing to alert my enemies that I’m on the way.The only time I give myself away is when I’m with her. I already showed her my most vulnerable side. All those years ago.When I did it, I thought I’d never see her again. In my mind, there was no way a nun and a would-be crime boss would ever cross paths again.But in no time at all, she burrowed her way under the surface, getting stuck in my heart like a little thorn under my skin. Bothersome at first, but I had grown used to her presence in my life.When I left her, when I told her she’d never see me again, I meant it. That was the plan. But like that little thorn that sticks under your skin, she stuck in my mind.She was my secret for many years. The light I could turn to when I needed a break from my dark reality.Then she grew too big. The longing to see
Last Updated : 2025-04-04Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 29
RafaelWe leave through the strip club’s back entrance, and from there go to the casino. The few straight cops, Harris mostly, always have me under surveillance, but they can’t watch every entrance and exit.The strip club’s exit is well-hidden and most people don’t know about it. Even the dancers and staff enter through a different door. It’s the only way I can shake the constant tail on my ass.By the time we get to the casino it is starting to fill up, which suits me just fine. The noise from above will drown out the man in my basement’s screams.Paulie and Frankie already worked him over, and all they could get out of him was a few grunts. All we know about the man is that he works for Sforza.Frankie overheard him bragging in one of Sforza’s joints about the job he pulled, and how he was next in line to become capo because he wasn't, 'afraid to do the dirty work.'He’s a hopped up wiseguy who thinks too much of himself, and he thought that telling the rest of the crew how he kille
Last Updated : 2025-04-05Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 30
RafaelI meet Sforza in one of the private booths at the back of English’s restaurant - Gusto. Robert opened Gusto five years before Carmello died, by then, the two of them were thick as thieves and came as a package. Robert and Carmello, always together. They were like David and Jonathan. I don’t know how they met or what happened between them, and Robert won’t speak about it, but he was a good friend to my brother and mourned his death.At forty, Robert doesn’t look a day over twenty-five, with a thick head of hair, sharp blue eyes, and a tall, slim figure. He never married.There were whispers, back in the day, that my brother and Robert were lovers. The rumours are true, but I never confirm nor deny them. At least Carmello never took a pretend girlfriend so he could appear straight. So many of the other gay wiseguys tend to do, bringing diseases and heartbreak home to their wives and children.Homosexuality is still a big taboo in our world, but it never bothered me one way or th
Last Updated : 2025-04-07Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 31
RafaelThe towel I clutch to midsection is soaked through with blood. A fraction of an inch deeper, and the boy would have eviscerated me. I don’t know if I were lucky, or if the kid was just that incompetent.I lean back in the seat, trying my best not to make a sound as Enzo drives me home. English will erase the CCTV footage of his front door, Rossi and Sforza are taking care of the kid’s body.We hate each other, but we both are bound by the code, and he takes it as seriously as I do.“Get back to the city,” I order Enzo as he pulls up to the front door. I grit my teeth and get out of the car, but lean inside to finish my order. “Make sure everything is taken care of, and find out what the cops know.”“Yes, Boss,” Enzo agrees.I slam the door shut and watch as Enzo drives away, the brake lights leaving a red trail behind. I know he was behind it. Him and Sforza. They don’t want to kill me outright - that would draw attention to them and trigger a war they can’t win. What they wan
Last Updated : 2025-04-10Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 32
MadeleineI make it back upstairs just in time to strip off my bloody nightdress, shower, and climb into bed. My breath is still racing when Ethel shows up to check on me.She clicks her tongue disapprovingly while she takes my vitals. “I am worried about you,” she declares. “Why?” I ask innocently.It's not as if I can tell her why I didn’t sleep last night. I heard when Rafael returned, the slamming of the car door, and looked out of my window. Something about the way he moved, as if he was hurt...I still don't know why it bothered me, why I felt compelled to go downstairs to check on him. I just knew he needed help, and I couldn't ignore the voice in my heart urging me to go to him.Good thing I did. I’m sure he would have bled out in that bathroom if I ignored my instincts.“Your vitals are concerning,” Ethel declares. “Your blood pressure is too low, and your pulse is too fast. Your colour is off. You look sicker today than yesterday.”“I didn’t sleep well.”The nurse nods and
Last Updated : 2025-04-11
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Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 62
RafaelWe leave the little cafe an hour later. I'm carrying a bag with our leftovers. Madeleine ate well, but in the end the large portion defeated her and she had to give up with more than half the food still on her plate.I should be out there looking for Sforza, but I'm sure Frankie has it under control. I’m getting antsy and restless though. It’s the same feeling I get when the calm that settles over the lake, and everything goes still just before the storm breaks loose and comes roaring across the water.Madeleine stops abruptly outside a boutique window and looks at the dresses on display. It’s much more revealing than the one she’s wearing, with plunging necklines, and high hems.I bought her clothes. Years ago, when I prepared the room for her. I bought them with a nun in mind.She is not that girl, that woman, anymore.I put my arm around her waist and look at the selection. The white dress she’s staring at has a high neckline, but a very short skirt. It’s pretty, and I want
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 61
RafaelI can’t remember the last time I walked through the city without having someone around to watch my back. Even after the war ended, I always had someone with me - just in case. Not just because the smaller families still held a grudge, but because I damn well knew I pissed Matteo off every time I emptied one of his containers.It's liberating. Glorious. To walk in the sunshine with Madeleine by my side. I've forgotten how good it feels to be free.I glance at Maddie who is simply radiant. She didn’t even look this healthy back in the convent, where I’m sure she had a decent enough life, if not a good one.The little cafe, tucked away between two boutiques at the bottom of the street, is one of my favourite places. It’s small, with only five tables and two booths. The little restaurant is quiet, the food is good, and the owner doesn’t feel the need for constant validation like English does.We step into a place that looks a little like every grandmother’s living room. Not a sing
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 60
MadeleineI wake up glowing. Like a firefly that didn’t know its light was missing and finally found it again. It's exhilirating. I finally did it. I managed to move on from Sister Francis.I ache in all the right places, and I feel alive in ways I didn’t know was possible. And rested. As if I slept for a week.I stretch and look at the place where Rafael should be, but his spot is empty. The balcony doors are wide open though, and I can smell the scent of smoke drifting in from outside.I’m embarrassed to face him. I don’t know why. It’s stupid. I’m a grown woman, but he always saw me as something… untouchable. What if he doesn't see me the same way he used to? What if he looks at me the same way he looked at the hookers in the casino?All the men in that place regarded me that way, and it didn’t bother me. They didn't matter, and I knew who I truly was. Still am. But if Rafael looks at me like that, I don’t think I’ll make it. I laid myself bare to him last night. In every sense of
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 59
RafaelI am drunk on pure Madeleine. Her scent. Her taste. The way she so easily opens up to me. Trusting me not to hurt her. Trusting that she can be herself with me.It’s intoxicating. Like nothing I’ve ever felt before in my life.Moaning softly, I dip my tongue inside her, drowning in her.I’m so hard, so in need of her, that I’m afraid I’ll burst wide open. Like a fucking geyser.I didn’t lie when I told her that I haven’t had sex in a while. It’s been years.I want to rush. Every part of me wants to be inside her.But Jesus, Mary and Joseph, if life isn’t pretty fucking magnificent right where I am at the moment. Between her legs, drinking her in like a dying man who found an oasis in the desert.Slowly, I start to open her, working a finger inside her. Even that is glorious. She is glorious.It happens fast and suddenly. The orgasm that takes her is intense. She breaks open for me like a blooming flower meeting the sun.That is what I wanted. Feeling her throb around my finger.
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 58
MadeleineRafael crushes out his cigarette and sips his drink. He brought up a glass of wine for me, but I hardly touched it. After what happened at the casino, I have a deep distrust for any kind of wine.“What time is it?” I ask.He glances at his watch. “Wow. Almost nine.”I jump up. “I missed Betsy’s bedtime. I promised her that I’d tuck her in.”“No,” he says and puts his glass down. “Your face is swollen. She’ll notice that you cried. I’ll do it. Why don’t you go take a nice, long bath and relax?”I shake my head. “I don’t… no, I don’t want to be alone.”He just nods. “Okay. I’ll be quick.”“Promise?”He leans over and kisses me. He tastes and smells like cigarettes and whiskey. I wrinkle my nose, and he laughs. “I also promise to brush my teeth.”While he is gone, I go to the bathroom. He’s right, my face is very swollen, my eyes red. I am exhausted. Mentally, I’m just done.I wash my face, brush my hair and teeth, and go back to the bedroom just as Rafael returns. Without a wo
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 57
MadeleineHe holds me like I’m a piece of broken porcelain he has to glue back together. Like I’ll come apart if he lets me go.But I’ve already come undone. In that laundry room this morning while I watched the horrors of last night flash before my eyes. Last night - sometime between that moment when Rafael gave me the gun, and when I dropped it in the lake with the rest of the weapons, standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the deadliest, most violent people on the planet.And yet... I think it happened even sooner than that. Perhaps it began when my father handed me a deck of cards for the first time and showed me how to shuffle it.I came to Rafael broken. He met me after I was already in pieces, held together with invisible tape and glue until somebody dropped me.And it wasn’t him. It wasn’t Rafael. Not him.It was them. When they died. My parents. They let go as they always did, and I shattered to pieces.Again.And everytime that happened, it became harder and harder to p
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 56
RafaelI take the stairs slowly, one hand brushing the glass rail. Each step feels like I’m climbing toward the inevitable - toward the part where she looks me in the eye and tells me she can’t do this.I wouldn’t blame her. Not anymore. I wanted to lock her up in a cage. Like I locked the image of Sister Francis in my heart. I wanted to use her for my own selfish reasons. And for a while there, I thought I could do it without corrupting her.I wanted to use Madeleine like I used that fantasy of who she was. A port in my stormy seas. A place where I could pretend that I’m something I’m not. Something I so desperately wanted to be.It will never happen. None of it. I am who I am. She is who she is. Kind, sweet, and gentle. And I’m stripping that away from her, one piece at a time until there'll be nothing but a shell left.The hallway is silent. No cartoons. No giggles. Just the low hum of the city filtering through the double-glazed windows. This is my life. Me. Alone. Drifting thro
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 55
RafaelOn my way home, I swing by the hospital to check in on Paulie and to give him a basket of mini muffins. It’s one of his guilty pleasures and a bizarre quirk I could never figure out. All I know is that he loves those things.There's no need for business now, although he probably knows everything already. "How's Vinnie?" he asks and tears into the basket of muffins."Fine. They discharged him this afternoon."I still for a while longer, eager to leave but aware enough to know that if I don't, Paulie will take offence. As soon as Cara shows up, I get up and say my goodbyes.Then I stop at a grocery store to stock up on some supplies for the penthouse. I buy a ridiculous amount of snacks, juices, flavoured milks, cereal, colouring books, and other things I think Betsy will like. I stroll down the other isles, loading my cart with more food than we’ll need. I stop in front of the condom rack, staring at the colourful boxes and variety of prophylactics on display. For a moment, I
Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story Chapter 54
RafaelI step out onto the narrow terrace of the strip club, one hand curled around the burner phone, the other around my Zippo. I only smoke when I’m stressed, and I haven’t been this stressed in months.I light the cigarette and lean on the railing, looking out over the city stretches into the horizon - glass towers and concrete for miles around. It smells of despair and broken dreams while everyone who lives here pretends to be something they’re not. Just like me.I dial the number manually. No names saved. No records.It rings once. Twice. Then, “Whose this?” Salvatore answers. No hello. No pleasantries. Just those two simple words - like a curse or a challenge.“Andoletti.”“Ah.” He doesn’t sound surprised. Salvatore’s accent is thick, but his English is perfect. “Yes. I have been waiting for your call.”“You have a problem,” I say.Silence. He knows already, he’s just waiting for me to confirm it.“Enzo,” I go on. “He gave the signal to Sforza and Romano. They hit my house. At
