The Godfathers Property

                                 'When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on'

                                                                                                                                          ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Isabella's P.O.V.

A common misconception about us rich people is that we're all happy and that our lives are easy and I can totally understand why people would think this way.

They see our expensive homes, our expensive cars and also the extravagant lifestyles that we all live and they immediately think that we're all blissfully happy and that our lives are also picture perfect and problem free as well because in their eyes, they see our wealth and they think that we've got the world at our fingertips but this isn't true.

The reason why I say this is because behind our gated communities, our fancy lives and 'perfect' exterior, things are far from rosy and they're nowhere near being happy and harmonious for us or at least, that's what it's like for me anyway.

I know you're all probably thinking oh boo-hoo, this poor little rich girl is crying and complaining about being wealthy and how hard her privileged life is, how incredibly sad for her...not and I get it, trust me, I do but I'm being serious here.

Being rich, ain't all that, I promise you.

There are thousands of people in this world who are working dead end jobs or have got multiple jobs or they're on EBT and other government assistance, they're struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table and I guarantee you that they're all a million times happier than I am and that's because they've got the one thing that money can never ever buy and that's love.

They receive so much love from their grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins, spouses and also their kids as well, if they've got any but I don't, in fact, the only familial love I've ever received in my entire life has been from my nonno Giuseppe, my late mama Valentina, my cousin Mercedes and my auntie Viva.

They've always shown me unconditional love and have given me a lot of care and affection ever since I was born but that's it, the rest of my famiglia treat me like I'm an old, priceless heirloom that they've got to look after and protect but not pay any particular attention to.

I mean, my papa and older brothers claim to love me unconditionally and have tried to show me just how much they do via money and expensive gifts which their assistants have purchased for me but their love always comes across as backhanded if you know what I mean.

You know like when someone gives you a backhanded compliment and say something like wow, those jeans look amazing on you but they make your ass look really fat and not in a Kylie Jenner kind of way, yeah, that's what it's like receiving love from my papa, my step-mama and my older brothers Vito, Alexander and Xavier.

I don't know why they would act like this with me but if I had to take a guess then I'd say that it's got something to do with my late mama, Valentina DiMarco who was the most perfect woman in the world from her stunning natural beauty, all the way down to her adorable and infectious personality which has left a permanent mark on our famiglia forever.

My mama was the sweetest, kindest and most beautiful woman I've ever met in my entire life and I'm not just saying that because she was my mama, I'm saying it because it's true.

She was also incredibly feisty in both a good and a bad way and you really didn't want to get on the latter side of her feistiness because you'd regret it if you did.

I mean, my mama wasn't a hateful or violent person but she did have the ability to make you cry one minute and then she'd give you a tissue and a hug the next minute because even though she was a stickler for teaching someone a lesson when they've been naughty, she still didn't like to see people cry either.

God, I miss her so much.

Anyway, she was an insanely unique woman with a heart of gold who I've been told that I'm a lot alike.

I've been told numerous times by my mama's older sister Viva, that I've got the same personality and traits as her including how feisty I am, in fact, she says that I'm even worse than my mama which says a LOT considering that it always felt like the world had been set on fire whenever she was being her usually feisty self, so I feel incredibly proud to have so much in common with her in more ways than just my looks.

My mama was a literal goddess and a natural beauty of both Mexican and Italian descent.

She looked just like Selena Quintanilla-Perez and I'm an exact replica of my mama from my long, dark hair to my light green eyes, my thick pouty lips, curves and my naturally tanned skin tone.

You're probably wondering what the hell all of this has got to do with the way my famiglia treats me, well, it's actually got everything to do with it because my mama is like a beautiful cloud who is permanently hovering over us.

According to my papa, he was madly in love with my mama and he's even gone as far as calling her his soulmate and the love of his life but that didn't stop the asshole from cheating on said 'soulmate' during their almost twenty year marriage and one of the whores he cheated on her with is the same woman he replaced her with not too long after she'd died.

My papa also claimed to have been completely and utterly devastated by her death and was on the brink of suicide as well but that's debatable, in my opinion.

Long story short is that several hours after my mama's funeral had taken place, my papa moved my 'auntie' and my 'cousins' into our famiglia home and he told me that they were going to get married and that she was going to be my new mama because in his words, that's what your mama would've wanted for us, Isabella which is a bunch of bullshit if you ask me because she'd never want this for us.

Anyway, I later found out that my so called 'auntie' was actually my papas main mistress who he couldn't wait to promote to his wife and my 'cousins' Vito and Alexander were my older half brothers who I was forced to accept and live with, all whilst going through puberty and grieving for my beautiful mama.

I really didn't want to accept them but I had no other choice because I had to survive the next four years with them until I turned eighteen and can make my own decisions, so I pretended to accept them whilst giving the narcissistic pig who I'm unfortunate enough to call my papa, the cold shoulder and treating him like a stranger for what he's put me and my mama through.

Even if he was telling the truth and he did truly love and adore my mama and me the way that he claims that he does, then that's more than enough reason for me to be ostracised by him and his famiglia because I'm a permanent reminder of the woman he loved and betrayed.

Not to mention, I'm also a permanent reminder of the woman who my step-mama will never live up to or truly replace in both my papa's heart and our famiglia, it doesn't matter what she does or how hard she tries, she'll never ever be able to replace the woman who was the embodiment of perfection in a lot of peoples eyes.

Their treatment of me could also be because I've never given my step-mama the time of day and I treat my papa like he's John Cena and I can't see his ass or it could be because I don't act like a typical mafia principessa which always pisses the hierarchy off.

We come from a world where the men are kings who can do no wrong and must be respected at all times, whereas us women are the queens and principessas who are oppressed and held back compared to other women in this country and we're forced to always be loyal and completely faithful to our men even when they're not.

That's right, the men can disrespect us by cheating on their wives and families just as long as it's kept behind closed doors and nobody knows about their indiscretions but if us women were to do the same, then we'd be shamed, punished and could face being permanently banished from our famiglia and mafia for 'bringing shame on the family name'.

There's also this rule that us women are to be seen and not heard but the modern generation of mafia principessas have rebelled hard against this rule which pisses off the hierarchy who feel like we're being disrespectful and they believe that we should just fall in line and act the same way that our predecessors did.

Pfft, fat chance that will ever happen.

To be fair, I honestly never used to hate this lifestyle as much as I do now, in fact, I used to really love it, especially when my mama was still alive but then things went downhill after she passed away and the perfect gloss that I was seeing this life through quickly disappeared showing me, not only the true reality of what my life has actually been like for me but also the true colours of the people around me as well.

I had always hoped to leave this life behind when I turned eighteen but unfortunately, my nonno decided to throw a big ass wrench in those plans which I would've been happy about had I not learned some home truths from a man who I truly loved and cared for like an idiot which forced me to harden my heart to not only this life and the people in it but also to love as well.