Wrath (Part I): A Mafia Romance (Esposito Series Book 1)

by Fariah Zaidi

  I groaned loudly, turning over and burying myself further into the soft and plush mattress and throwing the comforter over my face.

  Wait a second.

  My mattress isn’t that soft. And my mother’s old comforter doesn’t smell like this.

  When a pair of steel grey-eyes flashes through my mind, I bolt upright. Everything came rushing back, all at once, from my father’s letter to being kidnapped and then being saved by Stefan. It takes my mind a couple moments to confirm that it wasn’t a nightmare, but all that happened in reality.

  But what happened after I threw up? I vaguely remember hurling my stomach out over the toilet and then passing out.

  I can feel a dull ache beginning to form in my head and I clutch my hair. It’s going to take a lot of coffee for it to subside.

  Removing the comforter off my legs, I shiver a little when the cold, winter air touches my skin. I stretch and yawn loudly, almost tempted to pull the cover back on me and go back to sleep.

  But the sensible part of my brain forces my feet in the fluffy slippers and get out of the bed and towards the bathroom. After doing my business, I walk to the sink and open a couple of cabinets, looking for a toothbrush. I am surprised to find that the bathroom is fully stocked with all the necessities

  When I finally find the toothbrush, I quickly use it and then hop into the shower to fully wake myself up.

  How did my Sunday go from a normal, binge-watching, cleaning day to one filled with so much drama?

  All of this is a lot to take in- the Mafia, my real family. And there is so much more that I don’t know yet.

  And how does Stefan know so much about me? Can I trust him? Would he help me in finding out everything there is to know? Why does my father want to kill me? What happens when all of this is over?

  With these questions playing on a loop in my mind, I turn off the shower, grab a towel and head out the door.

  A surprised scream escapes my lips when I see a girl sitting on my bed.

  She jumps up, startled out of her wits, “Oh my God!”

  I put my hand on my heart to slow down my escalated heartbeat, taking a deep long breath. She does the same and for a couple of seconds, we just stare at each, until we both calm down.

  She looks around my age. She has a slim frame, with shoulder length, wavy, light brown hair. She looks really pretty in her light blue sweater and rugged jeans, bringing out the blue in her big, round eyes.

  I clear my throat, “No offence, but, don’t the people in this house knock before they enter someone’s room?”

  She throws her head back and lets out a hearty laugh.

  “We do.” she says, her bright smile so contagious that I feel my lips quirking up too, “And I am sorry for scaring you. But I knocked on the door twice, and then I heard the water running, so I figured you were in the shower, and these bags were really heavy, so I just came in.”

  She gestures to a couple of bags placed on the bed. They do look heavy.

  “Anyway,” she turns my attention back to her, her sweet voice underlying with the hint of an accent, “my name is Vittoria, but you can call me Ria.”

  She thrusts her hand out to me and I place my own in hers and shake it, “I am Zara. But I’m guessing you already know that.”

  She gives me a sheepish smile, confirming that she did.

  “Why don’t you get ready? Stefan bought these clothes for you.”

  I arch an eyebrow and look at her skeptically, “Stefan bought clothes for me?”

  “Yes.” she furrows her eyebrows, “Why?”

  “No. It’s just that Stefan doesn’t seem like the kind of person to buy lingerie from Victoria’s Secret.” I gesture to the bright colored VS bag.

  “No, no.” she laughs, “He actually called up the store last night and told me to order some clothes for you, since we didn’t know how long you’d be staying here. They just delivered it a few minutes ago.”

  I had to say, it was nice of Stefan to buy clothes for me. I make a mental reminder to thank him for the same when I see him next.

  “So,” Ria claps her hand, “breakfast will be served in about half an hour, so why don’t you get ready and come down. Everyone is dying to meet you.”

  I feel a little scared by her mention of ‘everyone’. How many people were there? What if they didn’t like me?

  I rifle through the bags and pick out a light green sweater and dark blue jeans, with a matching set from the VS bag. I quickly head to the closet and change into them.

  When I leave the bedroom, I can easily remember the way downstairs. And according to the directions Ria ranted off before leaving, I turn right at the end of the staircase, making my towards the humongous kitchen.

  As soon as I step in, I am hit with the mouth-watering smell of bacon, eggs and coffee.

  I quickly survey the room- the shiny cabinets, the appliances, the huge refrigerator. In the middle there is a kitchen island with four seats on the side.

  Behind it stands a woman, clearly in her fifties, cooking food in two pans at the same time. She’s wearing a light pink dress and her hair is pulled up in a bun, a few strands falling out as she concentrates on the eggs and bacon.

  She seems to be grumbling in Italian but I only catch, “Enormi uomini affamati.”

  “Mama, look who’s here.” Ria calls out to her.

  The woman in question looks up and her eyes instantly light up at the sight of me standing there awkwardly. Before I can do or say anything, she rounds the counter and engulfs me in a hug. A big, bone-crushing hug.

  And for a moment, I relish in the warmth of her embrace. She emanates a motherly feeling, making me raise my hands and return her hug. Tears pricked at my eyes, as it was a small reminder of all that I’d lost.

  “Mama,” Ria’s amused voice comes from behind us, “Mama, she can’t breathe. Let go of her.”

  The woman pulls away from me, her smile still wide. She cups my face in her hands, “You grew up to be so beautiful. It’s so sad your mother isn’t here to see you.”

  “You knew her?” I ask, returning her smile.

  She lets out a hearty laugh, “Oh honey, we were best friends.”

  “Will you tell me about her?” I ask hopefully.

  “Of course.” she assures me, wiping her eyes, “But allow me to introduce myself first, I am Isabella, but you can call me Mama Bella, as everyone in this house does.”

  I nod, the smile never leaving my face as she pulls me in for another hug, which I gladly return. Until Ria’s panicked voice is heard from behind us, “Mama! The food is burning!”

  Bella instantly pulls away from me, as she runs back and starts to toss the food in the pans, all the while grumbling angrily in Italian.

  I take a deep breath and smile at the sight. It feels so homely and blissful.

  “Can I help?” I ask, as both women run around the kitchen, gathering stuff and taking out plates and other crockery.

  Bella gives me a sheepish smile, “Normally, I wouldn’t ask, but we’re really running late today. Do you mind cutting up those into small cubes?” she asks, gesturing to a basket of fruits kept on the side counter.

  “Not at all. Happy to help.” I smile at her. Ria hands me a knife and a big bowl from one of the cabinets and I start on my job. There are apples, strawberries, cherries and some oranges along with some kiwifruit.

  After I am done, I follow Ria through an adjacent door that leads to the dining room. The table is long, set with candlesticks in the middle, as fine china crockery lines up the on the sides.

  It takes four turns for the both of us to take the food from the kitchen and place it on the table. Though Mama Bella insisted on me sitting on the table, while she and Ria would do all the work, I refused. It just feels wrong that they run about doing all the work while I sit there, watching.

  Just as we made the last round, Rafael entered the kitchen, tapping away on an iPad. He raised his head and when his eyes landed on me, he shot me a wide smile, “Good m
orning, Zara.”

  I returned his greeting with a small smile of my own. A couple more men walked through the door. I vaguely recognized one of them because he was sitting next to Rafael in the car last night, but the other one I didn’t know at all.

  Ria at once jumped up and led me towards them.

  “Zara, this is Vincent” she gestured to the familiar guy and then pointed to the other one, “and this is Enzo.”

  I gave them a small smile and reached forward to shake their hands. However, I noticed the stark difference between the two men- Vincent looked friendlier with his welcoming smile, but Enzo looked like he was being forced to even look at me.

  And then I saw the most adorable sight I’d seen in a long time.

  All three men headed to the front of the table, where Mama Bella was standing. One by one, they all leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

  Ria grabbed my arm before I was able to do something stupid, like cooing ‘aw’ right there and then. She led me to the table and we both settled in, as did Vincent, Rafael and Enzo.

  “The three of them,” she nodded towards the men, “are Stefan’s brothers, the only people he trusts in the entire world. And Rafael over there is the Underboss.”

  I nodded, noticing that Mama Bella was still standing. But as I opened my mouth to ask why, the room fell into utter silence.

  Everyone’s eyes turned to the door, where stood an incredibly handsome man, wearing a black suit, tailored to perfection.

  Stefan.

  His hands were in his pockets and his eyes were trained solely on me. For some reason, I shivered under his gaze, but not the cold kind. It was strangely... warm.

  What felt like an eternity later, he tore his gaze away from me, and made his way to the head of the table.

  “Excuse me, Mister.” Mama Bella spoke up, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  Stefan stopped mid-step, and turned around, huffing under his breath, “Do we really have to do it every day?”

  “Watch your tone with me, son. You eat in my kitchen, you follow my rules.” Bella stated sternly, hooking her arms on her waist.

  I watched in utter amusement as Stefan obediently walked over to her and bent down to kiss her cheek. I slapped my hand on my mouth to keep myself from laughing out loud.

  The next twenty minutes were full of the clanking of the silverware and the low murmur of the men talking amongst themselves.

  While talking to Ria, my eyes involuntarily shifted towards Stefan, only to see him already looking at me. I couldn’t help the blush that warmed my cheeks from his intense gaze. He must have noticed it, because his lips quirked up at the sides, making way for a teasing smirk.

  Damn you, Stefan.

  I quickly looked away and desperately tried to ignore him for the rest of the breakfast. It was quite easy since Ria was quite the enthusiastic person.

  When it was over, one by one, the men got up and left the room and Ria and I helped Mama Bella clear the table.

  I was making the last round, carrying the jug of juice in my hand, when I let out a startled gasp upon seeing Stefan quietly standing by the door.

  “You guys really need to learn not to creep up on people.” I shook my head.

  When he didn’t say anything, I spoke up again, “Do you need something?”

  “My office.” he said, “Ten minutes. We need to talk.”

  I nodded in confirmation and he left the room, leaving behind the scent of his strong, masculine cologne.

  Chapter 6: Rage

  Unknown

  Diego Romano looked up from the file he was reading as I walked through his office doors, going to stand right in front of him, hands calmly shoved in my pockets.

  I knew it would annoy him, for everyone in this place was well aware of not entering his office without knocking for permission.

  “Forgot your manners, eh?” he asked, continuing his reading, “What do you want?”

  Without a word, I pulled out a chair and sat down in it, as two men walked in behind me and went to stand behind the bastard.

  He didn’t look the least bit bothered, riling me up even more. Instead, he took his sweet time to finish reading the paper and signed it, after which he leaned back in his chair.

  “I knew this day was going to come.” he said, smiling a little, “From the moment you walked into this familia as my underboss, I knew you would do this to me.”

  “And that clearly proves that you were a fool to trust me.” I tell him.

  I motioned to my men, as they both roughly pushed him out of his chair and dragged him to my feet. He still didn’t make a sound of protest. My jaw ticked when he looked me in the eyes, unafraid and slightly amused.

  “For ten years, I had your back. I did everything for you, all of the dirty work, while you rested on your throne, fucking puttanas day and night.” I lean forward until I was level with him, “I asked you one simple thing in return- your daughter. Instead, you tell me to kill her.”

  I moved forward and whispered in his ear, “Good thing I enjoyed her pussy before I killed her.”

  This time he struggled, riled up at the mention of his daughter. And I couldn’t help but smile.

  The door banged open and in came another one of my men, holding an iPad in his hand, “Boss, I’ve got the agreement.”

  “Read it.” I ordered, “What does it say?”

  “I will leave out the unimportant stuff. What’s relevant is that it states here that the Lombardi fortune can only be inherited by a blood heir.”

  “And that means?” I prompt.

  “It simply means that you will only get the inheritance if you get married to their blood heir, which was Sofia. Diego got it because he married her. But, the money has been in the Lombardi vault for the past eighteen years because that’s when Sofia died. And two years ago, Diego had his daughter killed too.”

  “How do I get the damn money?” I ask, my mind set on the fortune, solely.

  “You can’t. There is no blood heir of the Lombardi family alive. All the money is still in the Lombardi vault. If no heir appears, it will be distributed among the major charities in Italy.”

  It took me a second to wrap my head around the information, and the very next, a plan began forming in my head.

  I turned to Diego, who was listening to our conversation, with a small smirk on his face.

  “Did you really think,” he began in a hoarse whisper, “that I would let you get your traitorous hands on that money, you lying, back stabbing piece of shit?”

  My smile widened.

  “Ah! That’s right.” I clapped my hand, leaning back, “You don’t know!”

  His smirk vanished, and the one on my lips widened.

  “Your daughter is still alive, Diego.” I say, loving the way his eyes widen in fear and disbelief, “I know you had sent me to kill her, but I just couldn’t. I did have some fun with her, but I left her alive enough for me to go back to her again.”

  This greatly angered Diego and he began fighting against the men. Uselessly, I might add. I could feel the dread invading his nerves. It made me laugh harder.