Semua Bab Innocence Interrupted - A Mafia Story: Bab 41 - Bab 50

RafaelMadeleine keeps the nightmares away. Her presence alone is enough. She doesn’t need to hold me, or whisper comforts in my ear. Just knowing that she’s next to me helps.I drift off to sleep and don't wake again until the sun lights up the room, and the sound of chirping birds pierces the through my dreams.For the first time in weeks, I feel rested. Refreshed. Still in pain, but I am almost my old self again. I should be able to make it through the cookout okay. I will not be drinking and laughing along with the rest of them, but I will be able to grin and bear it.Frankie can take the children out on the boat. It’s usually my job, something I always enjoy, but I have a feeling my stomach won’t thank me if I take it out on the choppy lake today.“Morning,” Madeleine chirps and comes walking out of the bathroom with wet hair and only a towel wrapped around herself.My heart jumps into my throat, and my body reacts in a surprisingly violent way. If I could move at my regular sp

MadeleineThe men and women split into two groups. The guys congregate around the grill or the coolerboxes filled with beer. The women gather at their tables, in the kitchen to make salads, butter rolls, or to pour ice tea into pitchers.Rafael has a whole staff in the house, but none of them are here today, and I think it's some kind of traditional thing for the women to hang out in the kitchen. The places is crowded, the women are loud, and all of them are complaining about their husbands or children. I find it strange and endearing at the same time.“You’re quiet,” Angelica says as she dumps a container of mayonnaise over some potatoes.“I’m listening,” I answer her.“Oh honey,” one of the women, I think it’s Clara, snort-laughs at me. “You cain’t afford to be quiet. You’re Rafael's wife.”“Fiancèe,” I correct her.“Potato, poe-tah-toe,” she replies. “It’s the same difference to us. You live together as man and wife, you are man and wife.”I blush at the thinly veiled insinuation,

RafaelEnzo comes sauntering over to our table. We've been drinking and joking around for a while now, and he kept himself seperate from us on purpose. That, in itself, is the height of disrespect - not just for me, but also my captains.The old guys have slipped into ‘nostalgia mode,’ as I call it, and they’re talking about the good old days. When they get tipsy, they get weepy about how things used to be easier and different. I doubt it was any easier than it is now, they just forgot the uncertainty, the fear of not knowing when an enemy would come up to you and pull the trigger.During a war, safety isn't guaranteed. Death is. In our line of work, your life is always on the line no matter what, but when there's a war the risk increases ten-fold.Not that anyone would ever admit that they were scared. Everyone’s a hero in their own minds - and so are all the men who died during that time.Everyone falls quiet when Enzo pulls a chair over and takes a seat at the table. He wasn’t par

MadeleineAll I can think about, is that at least Betsy didn’t wake during the gunfight. With Ethel’s help, we moved her to the floor, and my sister just kept on sleeping, while I sat in front of the door, gun out, ready to shoot anyone who came inside. Luckily Paulie called out before he opened the door, or I would have pumped him full of bullets.And all that time, Besty didn’t even open her eyes.A whole day out on the lake, running, and playing really tapped her out. I hope she stays asleep until the mess has been cleaned up.As I look around at the devastation surrounding us, I’m quietly grateful that my sister slept through the whole thing. How the hell are you supposed to explain a lawn full of dead people to a child?It occurs me that I should be outraged right now. Falling to my knees and praying for the dead men. But I'm not. Maybe I’m in shock, because I feel nothing. I stare straight into a dead man’s half open eyes, and I’m just… numb. I’m sure the full devastation of

RafaelI stand in front of my closet, just staring at my clothes while my mind runs like a hamster wheel without the hamster.I’m exhausted. I ache. I’m furious. And I'm worried in a way I haven't been for years.Harris was so close to the truth that I felt it in my soul. He was the one who investigate the family war. More than once, he came to my house to interview me. There were cops outside my house, watching me day and night. It only stopped when I went to the station commander to lay a charge of harassment.That time, it was easier to hide my tracks. To come and go unseen. Now I have a fiancèe and kid tagging along. It’s a good thing. All the cops will see is a man out and about with his future family.At the same time, it's dangerous. Sforza is starting to come undone, and he could target them to get to me. On top of that, the police can decide to interview Madeleine at any time, and she has a temper that will get us in trouble for sure.She doesn’t know how to stay quiet or w