本棚
検索
ホーム / The Mafia Princess They Erased / Chapter 4

共有

Chapter 4

作者: Peachy
I stopped.

The cable slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor.

The hall was silent. Every eye was on the stage.

My father walked over and picked up the microphone.

The raging Don was gone.

His shoulders slumped. The hard shell was gone.

A screech of feedback cut through the air.

My father stood straight, his eyes finding me in the crowd.

"Everyone." His voice was hoarse. It echoed through the room. "Tonight… was a lie."

Silence again. Absolute silence.

"Today is not Bianca's birthday," my father said slowly. "Today is my daughter's birthday. Aurelia Cassano's birthday."

Bianca, standing near my mother, turned pale.

She tried to speak. "Don, you…"

"Shut up," my mother snapped, her voice cold. "Your job is over. Get off the stage."

Bianca retreated into the shadows.

Job?

I stared at them.

"What do you mean?" My own voice was thin.

My father took two steps toward me, holding the mic.

His deep eyes were swirling with pain.

"Aurelia. When you were ten, I was fighting for territory in Chicago. I forgot your birthday."

"When you were eleven, I was cleaning out traitors in the family. I forgot again."

"Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen…"

My father's voice started to choke.

"For ten years. I built the Cassano empire on blood. And I lost my daughter along the way."

I was frozen. My blood felt like it had stopped moving.

"You grew up," he said, his eyes red. "You stopped smiling. You stopped wanting hugs. You locked yourself in a cage of ice. Not even Nico could get in."

"We tried to make it up to you. But no matter what we gave you, you just looked at us with those cold eyes and said you didn't need it."

I bit my lip. Tasted blood.

"So?" I demanded. "So you pull a stunt like this?!"

"BECAUSE YOU WELDED YOUR HEART SHUT!" he suddenly roared. "Nothing we did could get through to you! So I used this stupid, extreme plan!"

He pointed at Bianca in the corner.

"I hired my underboss's daughter to act! I put you in that group chat on purpose! I made sure you saw the Ferrari! I had her wear your brooch on purpose!"

My head was spinning.

The group chat was fake.

"Our Treasure" was fake.

Even the brooch… it was all a script. A prop to make me angry.

"We knew you'd be furious. We knew you'd lose your mind." Tears fell from my father's eyes. His voice was desperate. "We had to break you! It was the only way to make you feel again!"

"It was the only way! A shock to the system! To shatter that goddamn fortress around your heart!"

"Aurelia, we needed you to feel the pain, so you would finally yell at us again! So you would finally stand in front of us, real and alive, and not like a ghost!"

As he finished speaking, every light in the ballroom suddenly went out.

The room was plunged into darkness.

I grabbed Nico’s arm without thinking.

The next second, the giant screen behind the stage lit up.

It wasn't a picture of Bianca.

It was a photo of me as a little girl.

The bright Sicilian sun.

In the photo, a seven-year-old girl in a sundress was hugging an old teddy bear.

She was grinning at the camera, wild and free. Missing her two front teeth.
この本を無料で読み続ける
コードをスキャンしてアプリをダウンロード
前のチャプター 次のチャプター

最新チャプター

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 9

    I stayed locked in that suite for three days. In a hotel owned by my enemy.For three days, I replayed the "Gift for the Princess."The dusty gown. The voided tickets. The video of my family falling apart in the ruins of their grand plan.We were all bleeding.I finally understood. The wall of ice I built didn't just lock them out. It locked me in.On the third afternoon, I pulled out the USB drive. I checked out.The moment I pushed open the door to the Cassano estate, it was silent. You could hear a pin drop.No squads of bodyguards. No maids rushing around.I slipped off my shoes and walked into the living room.My old diary from when I was a teenager sat right in the middle of the coffee table.Next to it was that faded photo of me at seven in Sicily, hugging my teddy bear.A peace offering.A small noise came from the kitchen.My mother walked out carrying a plate of freshly baked biscotti.She wore no makeup. Her hair was pulled back simply. She was in plain house clothes. The po

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 8

    I walked two blocks. I got a suite at the Peninsula. Top floor. The hotel owned by my family's biggest rival.I turned off my phone. Threw it deep into the sofa cushions.The absurdity of it all sat like lead in my chest.I sat by the floor-to-ceiling window in a robe, watching the lights of Michigan Avenue go out, one by one. I didn't sleep.The next morning, a sharp knock cut through the silence.I thought it was room service.The second I opened the door a crack, it was forced open.Nico.He brought the autumn chill in with him. His Armani suit was a mess. Wrinkled. I could smell stale cigar smoke and gunpowder on him.The dark circles under his eyes were like angry bruises.He was holding a thermos. He shut the door behind him, and I heard the lock click. He pulled out the key card. Double-locked it.His body was a wall, moving closer, blocking the light from the entryway. I had to take a step back.He put the thermos on the counter. A faint scent wafted out.My mother's tortellini

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 7

    My verdict landed in the silence.My words snuffed out the last spark of hope in my parents' eyes.I walked past Nico's rigid shoulders, straight to the restored sports car.My heels were silent on the thick carpet. Only my ragged breathing gave me away.I stopped at the front of the car.My fingers traced the cool metal body.The paint was flawless. Not a single scratch under the bright lights.This was the gift I used to dream of.I waited summer after summer for it.I turned around. My gaze was calm as I faced the three people who sat at the apex of Chicago's underworld."At ten, I didn't give a damn about a vacation in Sicily," I looked into my father's eyes. "I just wanted ten minutes of your day. Just to sit on the sofa and have a glass of hot milk with me. Not to listen to you take another overseas call about a gang war."My father's lips trembled. His eyes were a frightening shade of red."At twelve, I didn't need a princess dress covered in crystals," I turned to my mother. "I

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 6

    Blood pounded in my ears.It all clicked.The "La Famiglia" group chat. It was all a goddamn mind game.The precious "treasure" they all adored. It was me.The words that stabbed me, the cold shoulders… all rehearsed lines in their sick play.I was frozen.My stomach churned. It was sick. A wave of disgust washed over me.Nico took a step forward.He pushed the phone he’d snatched back into my hand.His thumb deliberately pressed against my skin. The heat of it burned, an undeniable pressure on my nerves."I knew everything," his voice was rough, his eyes full of guilt. "I was afraid you'd break. The screenshot… it was a signal. A warning."I looked up.Met his bloodshot eyes.I grabbed his tie. Yanked him close.The space between us vanished."So you were in on it? An actor, too?" I seethed, staring him down. "Watching me lose it like some clown… did you enjoy the show? Is this how the Cassanos do business? Playing games with your own blood?"He didn't flinch.He let me pull his tie t

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 5

    Lights danced on the big screen.The picture changed.Five years old. Me in a tiny, custom-made riding outfit. Stumbling around the heavily guarded stables.Seven years old. My face smeared with paint. Holding up a messy drawing in the art studio.Ten years old. Clutching that old teddy bear. Sitting on the couch in an empty living room, waiting. The cold silhouettes of bodyguards patrolling outside.In the background, Dad's voice came through the speakers, low and trembling."I thought… conquering Chicago's underworld… was the best way to protect you.""I was wrong. I made the Cassano empire my only mission."A heavy sigh echoed through the speakers. Tired. Broken."No one knows. The Don of this city… hands soaked in my enemies' blood… but I couldn't even hold my own daughter."The screen went dark.Twelve years old. My massive, empty bedroom at the estate. Me, alone, making a wish over a small cake with a single candle.Fifteen years old. Passed out on a pile of design sketches. Tear

  • The Mafia Princess They Erased   Chapter 4

    I stopped.The cable slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor.The hall was silent. Every eye was on the stage.My father walked over and picked up the microphone.The raging Don was gone.His shoulders slumped. The hard shell was gone.A screech of feedback cut through the air.My father stood straight, his eyes finding me in the crowd."Everyone." His voice was hoarse. It echoed through the room. "Tonight… was a lie."Silence again. Absolute silence."Today is not Bianca's birthday," my father said slowly. "Today is my daughter's birthday. Aurelia Cassano's birthday."Bianca, standing near my mother, turned pale.She tried to speak. "Don, you…""Shut up," my mother snapped, her voice cold. "Your job is over. Get off the stage."Bianca retreated into the shadows.Job?I stared at them."What do you mean?" My own voice was thin.My father took two steps toward me, holding the mic.His deep eyes were swirling with pain."Aurelia. When you were ten, I was fighting for territory in C

続きを読む

あなたも気に入るかもしれません

無料で面白い小説を探して読んでみましょう
GoodNovel アプリで人気小説に無料で！お好きな本をダウンロードして、いつでもどこでも読みましょう！
アプリで無料で本を読む
コードをスキャンしてアプリで読む
DMCA.com Protection Status