บททั้งหมดของ Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

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

RafaelI stand outside Madeleine’s room, leaning with my back against the wall, breathing so hard that it hurts.It was a mistake. Kissing her was a mistake. It’s too soon. She doesn’t know me yet. In her mind, I’m still Dom - the sensitive romantic who cried in her church. Every naive little nun’s fantasy.I almost turn around and go back inside. I have to know what she’s thinking. I have to know if Dom is still all she sees when she looks at me.But I don’t do it. I don’t want to know. Not yet. I want to bask in the warmth of her glow a moment longer.**With a grunt and a grimace, I slide behind my desk and swallow two painkillers before I get a burner phone from the drawer. The sooner I set this meeting up with Luca Amato, the better. This Sforza matter needs to be dealt with.Apart from the bedroom where I bled last night, there’s no trace of what happened when I came home. I’m not worried about the other evidence - Missus Wilson is used to cleaning blood out of our clothing, and

MadeleineI flush the yellow pill down the toilet and go back to bed. I allow myself to fall asleep, knowing that Ethel will wake me at ten to check my vitals and give me the last round of the day’s medication - a series of very painful injections that I dread.I thought I'd get used to the shots, but no luck so far.Ethel tries her best to be gentle, and keeps telling me that it’s the medicine inside that hurts, not the needles, but I swear sometimes it feels as if she’s pegging that needle into my ass like it's a dart.When Ethel’s done, she goes back to her room. I lie and wait for the rattle of the pipes, indicating that she’s taking a shower, and half an hour later the faint laughter of the audience on her television set floats through the wall. She falls asleep to sitcoms every night. I know when she wakes up, because she switches off the television when she does.Marco falls asleep right around the same time every night, and once he does, nothing can wake him. I don’t blame him

RafaelMadeleine stands next to the bed, eyeing me suspiciously. “I promised,” I try to encourage her. “I may be a shitty person, but I am a man of my word.”She nods and gingerly gets on the bed, curling in on herself like a concertina. I don’t say anything. I expected her reaction. As much as she doesn’t want to be a nun anymore, she still acts like one. Thinks like one.I sit down and lie back, slowly lifting my legs onto the mattress. The pain is unbelievable, but I can just about bear it now. In truth, I'm quietly grateful Madeleine didn’t get the dental floss and needles out again. “You never talk about yourself,” I say in an effort to break the uncomfortable silence between us. “Your childhood. I know nothing about you.”“There is a room upstairs that tells a different story.”I laugh softly. The room is a shrine - built from the little pieces of her memories she chose to share with me. Before she moved in, I’d go to that room and sit there, pretending that Sister Francis was

MadeleineBetsy destroyed her room. I knew she would. Thank goodness Rafael removed everything of value from the room - including that expensive looking ballerina figurine.The pretty room, fit for a little princess as she wanted it to be, is now a dump. She destroyed the dollhouse. Her dolls have no heads or legs. The potted plant with the little pink flowers has been overturned and the dirt scattered.She shredded her bedding and tore her pillows open, scattering stuffing all over the room. The pink curtains are in tatters. On the floor, next to the room, is the pair of scissors she used to do it.I’ve never seen this level of destruction from her.Rafael is going to lose his damn mind.I’m going to lose my mind.The anger that washes over me is something I’ve never experienced before. For the first time since I’ve had to take her into my care, I want to put her over my knee and spank her.Betsy is sitting in the middle of the room, covered in dirt, stuffing stuck in her hair like l