Arranged Marriage Mafia: A Dark Italian Novel (Mafia Romance Book 1)

by Madison Klien

  ARRANGED MARRIAGE MAFIA

  A Dark Italian Novel

  MADISON KLIEN

  Copyright © 2020 by Madison Klein

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Disclaimer

  All the material contained in this book is provided for educational and informational purposes only. No responsibility can be taken for any results or outcomes resulting from the use of this material.

  While every attempt has been made to provide information that is both accurate and effective, the author does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy or use/misuse of this information.

  Table of Contents

  ACT 1

  PILOT

  BUSINESS DEAL GONE WRONG

  CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

  ACT 2

  A GUIDING HAND

  INDIVIDUAL DESIRES

  TEMPTATION

  DARK MOMENTS

  ACT 3

  PERSONAL SACRIFICE

  ACT 1

  PILOT

  Attention please, the last bus will be taking off soon . . . the female voice said through the public announcement system. Her voice was clear and audible.

  She heard the announcement at the station and was in a hurry to on board the train. She picked up the pace in the direction of the bus. The other buses going her way had left except this one and it was getting late. The clouds were getting cleared as though it was giving a free invitation for the night to draw near. The next available bus would arrive in an hour but it could take much time. “No chance,” she said. “It is not safe to be out alone in the city at night. No one wants to be the victim on the next evening news.”

  She could hear the engine of the bus rave as it was about to leave the bus stop. Carmela, a beautiful brunette with brown eyes and an appearance that looked out of place with the local dashed through to board the bus. She got the last ticket at the nick of time for a place called home. Home is usually a place filled with happy memories. But for Carmela, home was a place she would rather not associate with. However, it is the only place she knows as home at least until she is fully established on her own. Till she can stand tall. Although she is 5’5, she has a huge personality that makes her bigger in a room.

  She clicks her heels on the pavement as she rushes to board the bus. “What have we here?” she thought. The bus was crowded with people packed like a tuna. Different kind of people with different shapes.

  “All aboard,” the driver says as she was the last person to get on the bus.

  Carmela pushed her way through the crowd to find an available spot while holding her black-dyed hair from tangling with any unforeseen body. The bus began to move and so she stretches her hand to latch onto the bar above. The bus slightly lunges as it pulls away from the bus stop while she continued through the spaces between the people holding unto the bar to find a spot. Finally, she finds a spot after going through the many bodies with different foul odour and sweat from other people’s body. The overpowering perfume that accompanies such smell made the stench thicker but she was not bothered.

  She was focused on being her own person. It didn’t matter if she had to lower the standards that she was born into. She was born with a silver spoon—she feels it was not deserving because of the source of her family’s wealth. She doesn’t approve of his ways. She has tried many times to persuade him from this life but he would not listen. He is the reason she set out to make her own merit, to make a path to follow and define her purpose. She knows it is a lot to do but she had set her mind on this endeavour.

  She let her head down in the bus as they journeyed through the city while touching her softly shaped jaw as she thought about home. She would see him again. She thought, “Will he listen to me this time or perhaps I could have some luck with him this time.”

  She’s been doing fine without him and enjoys the feeling of independence but she always thought he needed saving from his line of business. A business with so much bloodstain and what she would call blood money because of the illegitimate means by which it came by.

  She admits to benefitting from the money while coming of age. The money funded her luxurious childhood and lifestyle. She knew nothing and had always thought it was normal. It is the reason for her fancy education and her social class in society. She always knew him as a businessman with security details protecting him from people who may want to hurt him. She later got to know better when she was enlightened. Since she knew about his dealings and how the money was made, she decided to cut herself away from all it.

  The smell in the bus was unbearable but her mind was somewhere else. After a few stops, she pulls the rope and the bus slows down. The passengers had their eyes on the upscale community and they were marvelled. The look on their faces told they were all wondering: who could be stopping here?

  People who lived in such a society do not take such a local bus. The door opens and a burst of fresh air was allowed into the bus and they could all smell the richness of the upscale society. The community is gated and well protected with security and surveillance systems.

  The aesthetics and ambience were worth every gaze complemented with the magnificent structures insight. The clean pavement and the palm trees aligned were all symmetrical. It was clear that it was a specially designed community for the wealthy and upscale people in the society that are influential.

  Carmela had to push her way through the crowd in the bus to reach the door. She got off the bus to the place she calls home. She heard whispers as the door of the bus was closing but she could not make out the words, though, she could tell it was all about her. She knew the feeling. It was not new and she was no stranger to such kind of reaction.

  She looked at them with the back of her eyes as though she was not looking. It was written all over their faces. Questions about why she of such an upscale status would ride in a bus. The door of the bus closes and soon it departed. Carmela looks up and the view just had she saw it the last time she was there. The house is in a private and in a gated community with tall stone walls and precisely cut bushes. The home is vivid in color and style. She takes a deep breath and walks up to the gate. Carmela puts in her code followed by a clicking sound that shows that code was accepted. The gate opens up to her and she was flooded by a welcoming humid summer breeze that caressed her skin. This was one of her favourite things about her home. The cooling breeze that spreads around the house comes with a refreshing feeling.

  She begins to walk to the house through the pathway with flowers on each side. It was about that time of the evening that the sun was setting. She looks up to admire the colours of the sunset spreading its hue across the sky. Its golden orange glow all over the horizon was beautiful to see.

  She continues to walk with her brown eyes on the amazing sky view of the setting sun. She was happy and at that moment had cleared her mind of all the thoughts that was bugging her. Her moment and movement got hindered when she heard the sound.

  “Good grief!” she sighed.

  Something gave in on her left heel. She looks down in disappointment. She liked this shoe a lot but here it goes. Damned and destroyed. The heel of her shoe has broken and this was the last thing she would have thought would be a drag on her day. Her mood change in the instant as she was frustrated.

  She continues as she walked unbalanced staggering until she arrived at the two-story home. She was faced wi
th the huge door and she let herself in with her key. Everything seemed normal and nothing was out of place except the new portrait of him on the wall. Carmela closed the door and dropped her keys in a glass bowl next to the door.

  She had her face down when she heard footsteps approaching in the hallway. She looked up slowly and watched him come her way. His presence filled the hallway with loud footsteps because of his size. He had a distinct lampshade moustache and thick eyebrows. He looked like a hired muscle with a nice slick back dark hair but his wealth conceals his overall appearance as he looked more of a big mafia boss. His arms are strong and from his body structure, you can tell that he had been through a lot of fights in his days. He was a man that did a lot of dirty jobs for the mafia. When you needed something done your go-to guy is Pasquale. He grew his reputation in the crime world and became a boss in his own right. He worked for all he had and was a success in this rig. This was all he had ever known. The life of organised crimes.

  Everything he has done was for his only daughter Carmela who grew up to be a fine independent woman. He liked the woman she was becoming but he was different from her. He had a smile on his face and she could tell he was happy to see her.

  “Hello, Father,” she says. He embraced her in his warm arms. She is the only daughter that he has and all that he has got.

  “Welcome home my daughter,” Pasquale replies. I” thought you’d at least notify me that you were coming home. I would have had my boys bring you home.”

  “Not a problem, Father,” Carmela responds. “I like to find my own way, you know I always do.”

  He laughed a little as he says, “That’s my daughter. You are still as stubborn as always.” Pasquale was dressed in a custom-tailored business suit complimented with a silk tie. It was as though he had just finished a meeting. She was happy to see him but she could not let out a smile. There was something on her mind. Her father saw it in her eyes. He had seen her this way before. He knew what she had in mind. Carmela already knew why he was dressed up that way. He had some illegal business dealings.

  This was what she came for. To talk to him and there was no better time than right now.

  “Father,” she says, “when will this end? When will it all stop? When do I stop living in the shadows?” She began to voice her objection as she was upset.

  Pasquale knew what she was on about from the moment he saw the look on her face. Carmela wants him to cut all his ties with the mafia.

  “It’s not time,” he says. “It’s not that easy,” he added.

  He listened to her, he heard her every word but it would seem to Carmela that her words are a broken record. It is a question she has often asked him but there was no changes nor response from him. She had given up on him ever-changing or leaving the mafia but she could never help it but ask him to leave whenever she sees him. She’s afraid of what may happen to him especially with the law and the mafia.

  Pasquale’s words have always been the next verse to the song. He tells her it’s not so easy and it became repetitive over the years. When he said this, it was nothing less than she had anticipated. Carmela still remained hopeful as she is a strong wield woman.

  He kissed her on the forehead softly as he turns to leave but stops in the doorway when he notices one of his daughter’s shoes has a broken heel. He was on his way out to another business meeting. The sound of the engine of the car brought forward to the doorway was his cue. But his attention was caught when he saw her broken heel. Then he turns to Carmela and tells her, “You could use another shoe. Let me call the manager at the store to deliver you their finest shoes immediately.” He brings out his mobile phone to scroll through his contacts. But Carmela touched his hand to get his attention. She appreciates the offer but tells him she prefers that he doesn’t buy her any more shoes. Pasquale understood what her gesture was all about. She wanted to find her own path and create her own merit. To buy what she wanted on her own. He respected her decision but did not say a word about this.

  His expression went blank as he turns and leaves. “I will see you later,” he says. He opens the door and his security details were set and ready. The opened the door to his black SUV to let him in. And soon they set out for his next meeting.

  Carmela goes up to her room to change into something more comfortable. She has a huge mirror wall in her closet where she admires the woman she had become. Speaking confidently to herself in a monologue, she says, “I can do this, I got this.”

  She is a 26 years damsel with a unique birthmark at her left lower eyelid that makes her appearance more compelling and beautiful. Her fair skin makes her more attractive with her dominant personality. She looks in the mirror to clean her face with face wipes. Her square face makes her look bold with her softly shaped jaw. She cleans her face nicely with the wipes all around her well-formed nose and full lips. After she was done cleaning her make up with the natural-looking foundation off, she went further to change from her ambiguous clothes to evening wear. The evening wear was earth coloured which was long and flowing to compliment her long legs.

  She had a long day and journey and so she was very hungry. She packed her mid lengthy curly braided hair with a rubber band and proceeded down to the kitchen. He goes into the fridge to pick out salad and chicken to microwave.

  As the chicken heat up in the microwave, she waited to sort out a portion of salad in a bowl. Then soon after, the timer beeped as the roast chicken was ready for serving. Carmela took her dinner to the living room and she turns on the TV. She switches from one channel to the other with the remote control until she stumbled on a Breaking news of an ongoing homicide being reported live. There were yellow tapes indicating it was a crime scene with several reporters and law enforcement agency in the background. Two bodies were found dead in the middle of a park. The report says they were shot in the head as though it was an execution but nothing was confirmed. Other observers testified that they heard two sounds of gun shot that followed at intervals. They had no leads and no suspects. These kinds of reports have been aired many times. There was a time her father was covered in blood when he got home and there was a news about a shootout and dead bodies. The news was similar to the one aired tonight. Carmela could not help but worry that her father could be involved in the shooting aired on TV. Her father left the house as though he was going for a meeting but Carmel had a hunch that he was up to no good. She hopes he doesn’t get himself into any form of trouble. He is the only family that she has and she couldn’t afford to lose him.

  As the news continued on, Carmela could not help but think that the hit was carried out by the mafia, and more so, that it was done by her father.

  BUSINESS DEAL GONE WRONG

  After her meal, she felt heavy and tired. She had a long day and the stress was weighing on her. Most especially the stress from the travelling on the bus. The TV news was all about tragic events, death and more violence all over the world. The world did not feel safe and yet she lived in a home where her father contributes to the dangers in it. No matter how she tried to dissociate herself, she would always be in this world. She grew up in it and the only way she can truly be free from all of it is if her father would quit or retire from the mafia. He has been loyal to them for years. He should be able to get hall pass or they could travel to somewhere far away to start anew. Her eyes were getting heavy and so she went up to the bathroom for a shower before going into her room to get the rest she deserved. She cleaned up nicely and got into her nightwear after which she goes to tuck herself into bed while covering all of her body except her head under the duvet. She was busy reading some emails on her phone when she slept off without doing what she’d set out to do—sleeping into the night. It was peaceful with dreams of the future she had pictured and she was happy but not for long. She hears a loud bang as though a door was slammed. She wakes up to the loud sound coming from down the stairs.

  “What is it this time?” she thought as she was terrified by the sound. She heard heavy studs of a sound climbin
g up the stairs. The sound got louder and louder till there was another slam and the sound began to fade away into silence. It was late into the night. She did not think to check the time but it was clear that it was late. Her instinct was to investigate what was happening. “Call the police. Nah not an option,” she thought. It was never going to be an option to call the law enforcement to their home. Especially with the kind of man her father was, the police is the last resort. She can handle this, she was sure.

  Carmela jumped out of bed quickly like a springing cat. She reached out for her baseball bat that was close to the bedroom door. She was given the bat by her father as a gift. As a kid, she loved to watch baseball and she was a huge fan of the Yankees. She would go out supervised to play the game with the boys. She was an excellent pitcher and also a good first base player. But that was all in her past, as she grew up, she played less of the game. Carmela had a good grip of the bat and she has a good swing when it comes to it. She was not rusty, she still had a good swing in her. She had no trouble with the curve when she played and so she will have trouble smashing the head of any intruder. She is brave and courageous yet when faced with danger, she was frightened. Yet, over the years, she has learnt to face her challenges head-on. The sound from the staircase had reduced. Carmela rushed out of her bedroom into the passageway but there was no one? She was barefooted and so it made her steps easy and soft on the ground. She made no noise with her movement. The lights were on and she began to move slowly towards the stairs. There was a trail of blood leading all the way to the bathroom. She held onto the bat tightly ready to swing if the need arises as it seemed there was an intruder in the house. Her once heavy sleepy eyes were cleared and she was very much awake and alert at the looming threat. The light in the bathroom was on. Carmela could recall turning it off before going to sleep.