Ruthless Empire: A Dark Mafia Collection

by Seth Eden

  The car ride was filled with getting-to-know-you questions. Stacy asked me everything from what my favorite color was to what my thoughts on the death penalty were. At first, I thought she was just laying it on thick, but she started to weave in what she’d learned about Molly and Kelly, and it became increasingly more clear that both of my sisters-in-law had been hit with the same flurry of questions. Stacy asked me about things I would never think to ask someone, like where was my favorite place I’d ever traveled and if there was something on my bucket list that I didn’t think I’d ever get to do. In a way, I was learning more about myself than Stacy was. It’d been such a long time since I thought of who I was when I wasn’t Alexis’s mom or Alessandro’s wife that when Stacy asked me to run down my favorite food, I struggled not to say bacon and eggs or mashed apricots. Maybe Molly was more right than I was willing to admit. I’d become so focused on being a facet of Alessandro that I almost forgot I was my own person.

  “Are conversations with you always so enlightening?” I asked.

  Stacy giggled. “Gabriel has asked me that exact same question. Luca, too. I guess it’s just something about me.”

  I crossed my arms. “I don’t think I like it.”

  “People usually don’t,” she replied simply. “It’s kind of like when you take a picture of yourself, you can make sure that you have the right angle and the right lighting and all that, but when someone else catches a picture of you when you’re not paying attention and more natural, you usually don’t like it. It’s hard to look at your real self.”

  “You should write a book,” I muttered absent-mindedly.

  Stacy laughed again. “I actually am, but not about that. A cookbook with my mom. Though people have told me that a lot, too. Maybe I should listen.” She let out another small chuckle and then asked a question I was not at all prepared for. “So, how did you and Sandro meet?”

  Thinking about Alessandro and my history was always painful. I thought about all of the love that existed between us, and it made me sad that such a huge, unshakable wall had erected itself between us. It made my throat burn.

  “I’m sorry,” Stacy said. “Was that too personal?”

  “Sorry, did I show it?” I asked.

  “I could feel it. Your aura got really dark.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “My aura?”

  “Yeah. Most humans think that we have three layers—bones, muscles, skin—but we actually have four—bones, muscles, skin, aura. It’s the invisible layer of all of your emotions and connection to the universe that floats around you like a bubble.”

  I’d heard people say stuff like that before, but they were always high. Stacy didn’t do drugs of any kind and barely drank, so I didn’t think her words were borne of influence. “Um. Okay. Can you, uh, see them?”

  Stacy giggled. “Kind of. I’ve spent my whole life practicing being in tune with mine and others, so I can feel it. I don’t know any other way to describe it than it’s like when someone pees near you in a pool. I know that’s gross, but that’s what it’s like. When people are overly sad or angry or happy, their auras have different saturations, and I can feel them. You could, too, if you practiced.” She shook her head immediately. “Not that I’m telling you to. I just don’t want it to sound like I have some superpower or something. I’m not doing anything that every other person couldn’t do. I just worked hard to achieve it.”

  I didn’t know whether to buy into her mumbo jumbo or not, but she was able to tell my mood had turned immediately without looking at me. “Interesting.”

  “It is. I’d love to talk with you more about it whenever you want. I love talking about this stuff.” She side-glanced me. “I’m also available to talk about…you know, other stuff.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Other stuff like what?” She drummed her fingers on her steering wheel like she was trying to decide if she was going to say anything more. “Please, just tell me. Did someone say something about me or something?”

  “No, just…” She pulled the car up in front of a row of storefronts and parked. She turned the car off and turned to look me in the eyes. “I know something’s wrong with you and Sandro. I can sense it. You know, with Marco and Kelly or Luca and Molly, their auras freely mingle. Yours and Sandro’s don’t. They just”—she clapped her hands together—“sit right next to each other, but”—she locked her fingers into each other—“they don’t pass through.”

  I was officially freaked out. Was her aura shit for real? How else would she know?

  “Again, if that’s too personal, you don’t have to say anything, but you don’t really talk to anyone else around the house other than Sandro, so if you’re holding all that stuff in…” She shrugged. “Just talk to someone, okay? Even if it’s not me.”

  Stacy looked at me for a while, and I just sat there in silence. It was true that I didn’t really have anyone else at the house I could talk to. I had an okay relationship with Marco and Gabriel since we’d all grown up together, but Luca and Molly were cordial on a good day, and there weren’t many good days around the Varasso estate. Kelly wasn’t around, and neither were Ricky and Sasha. Even my friend Bella had been busy with work lately. I had been holding most of it in.

  Stacy started to pull off her seatbelt and put her hand on the door to open it. I reached out and grabbed Stacy’s wrist, and she immediately stopped. Her shimmering green eyes fell on me, and she closed the door.

  “We’re not together,” I said, my throat singing as the words came up. “We haven’t been for about eight months.”

  Stacy’s mouth fell slightly open. “Not at all?”

  “I mean…” I let out an exhausted sigh. “We keep…slipping up, but it’s hard. I love him. He loves me.”

  “Then, why?” Stacy asked.

  “Sandro’s been having some problems. Mentally. I’m not a psychiatrist or anything, but he’s not himself. He turns into this really dark, scary person, especially when it comes to the business. He reminds me of his dad and, trust me when I say this, his dad was not a good man.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Stacy murmured back.

  “I told him that he needs to get help, but he refuses. He promised me he would stay out of the business, but then he started making trips to Philly behind my back.”

  Stacy nodded. “That was right when Gabe and I started dating. I remember him telling me that Sandro was just showing up out of nowhere.”

  “I thought we were important enough to him, you know? Lex and I. I guess he’d rather have all of this than have a family with me, so I told him I wanted a divorce.” I could feel tears starting to rise to my eyes, but I bit them back. “If all this Binachi business hadn’t kicked up, we might have gone through with it, but if something happened to him and I wasn’t there… I just want to see it through with him. Then we’ll be done.”

  Stacy ducked her head sadly. “I’m so sorry, Willow.”

  “Does any of your aura stuff help with saving a marriage?” I asked.

  Stacy stuck out her bottom lip. “I wish more than anything that it did.” She gave me a small grin. “I could cleanse your aura, though. It could help you see things clearly. I’ve done it for Gabriel before.” She let out an awkward chuckle. “It doesn’t hurt.”

  “Thanks, I honestly think I’ve bought into all of this enough for one day.”

  Stacy nodded. “Fair enough. The offer remains on the table.”

  “Thank you. For everything.” I started to climb out of the car, and that time, it was Stacy reaching out to hold me back. “What?”

  “I won’t tell,” Stacy said. “Not even Gabe. It’s your business to reveal if and when you choose to. Just know that I’m always here for you.”

  “Thanks, Stace.”

  She gave me a bright smile and then let me go so we could both get out. I helped Stacy grab materials from the trunk and then followed her into a small studio in the middle of the row of storefronts. There was a small reception desk sitting right inside the intimate space,
and to the right, there was a glass door leading into a studio. Another set of doors toward the back likely led to the space’s storage rooms and bathrooms, but Stacy immediately turned to the right and headed into the studios. I followed her in, and there were already a handful of people littered throughout the room, all standing next to different colored yoga mats. I stayed standing awkwardly at Stacy’s side while she set up a set of mats and water bottles at the head of the class and set her bag off to the side.

  A redhead approached us with a grin. “Hey, Stace.” She handed a folder to Stacy. “Got a new one today. She knows we’re almost closed.”

  “Hey, Sam. Thank you.” Stacy peeked inside the folder quickly and then handed it back to the redhead, Sam. “You can take lunch if you want.” Sam took the folder without another word and left. Stacy smiled at me. “Ready?”

  I nodded. “I guess.”

  She put a hand around my shoulders. “Good morning, everyone.”

  There were different return greetings before the room went quiet again.

  “I’m excited to have a special guest with me today. This is my sister-in-law, Willow, and this is her first time doing yoga, so let’s give her a warm welcome.”

  Everyone started to clap for me, and my skin crawled. It’d been a long time since I was around so many strangers, especially without Alessandro around. My anxiety started to whip up, but Stacy put her head on my shoulders, and for a reason I couldn’t explain, it started to dissipate some.

  “She’s a distant spirit.”

  I gave Stacy an odd look, but she just smiled at me, motioned to the back of the room, and quietly said, “It means don’t walk up and hug you. The whole back row is as well, so you’re among friends.”

  I appreciated being called a distant spirit as opposed to recluse or loner, so I let it go.

  “All right, if everyone wants to take their place on their mat, we’ll get started.”

  I stood on the mat that Stacy had laid out for me, then I heard a small squawk come from the group of students. Stacy and I both looked up, and a curvaceous woman with long black hair rolling down her back in loose beach waves and lavender eyes had a hand over her mouth. When I locked eyes with her, she waved.

  “Sorry for staring, it’s just… I get two Varassos in one class? Aren’t I lucky?”

  Stacy rigidified next to me, letting me know that I wasn’t crazy for the rush of foreboding that crashed over me.

  6

  Willow

  A quick look of hardness was quickly replaced by a sweet smile on Stacy’s face. “You’re my new student, right?” she asked. “What’s your name?”

  “Denise,” she responded quickly. “I guess you could say I’m a Varasso fangirl. When I found out one led this class, I had to come and try it out. I hope that’s not too weird. I’m not a freak, I promise.”

  I wasn’t so sure. Her whole demeanor was off-putting. As far as I knew, Stacy hadn’t told many people about her marriage to Gabriel, only a handful of friends and family. Her maiden name, Stacy Everett, was still what was on the studio, and in general, we were keeping the name Varasso as hushed as possible until we could unearth Dario Binachi and see to it that he wasn’t a threat anymore. How did this woman know that Stacy was a Varasso, or even more, that I was one? All Stacy had said was that I was her sister-in-law. That could also mean I’d married one of her siblings. Something was definitely off.

  “Of course it’s not weird. I’ve gotten more than a little hectic over things I’m interested in. You’re more than welcome here, right, everyone?” The group started to cheer and I looked over at Stacy like she’d lost her marbles. She seemed just as freaked out when Denise first spoke up, so why was she completely fine all of a sudden? “All right, let’s get started.”

  It was difficult to focus on the class with Denise throwing Stacy and me manic smiles. Every time Stacy wandered the class to help the students with their form, Denise would bounce up and down and monopolize her time. Stacy noticed that I was consumed with focusing on Denise and came over to stand next to me. She started being overly solicitous of me, helping me through different stretches and poses. Before long, I was stretching with the best of them and had put Denise mostly out of my mind.

  Whether it was on purpose or by accident, Stacy eventually had me in a position that had Denise behind me, and then I forgot about her entirely. Stacy’s voice was soothing as it sunk into my brain, and between that, the deep, steady breaths, and the relaxing music Stacy had playing throughout the studio, I was bordering on drowsy. The stresses of dealing with Alessandro and the family seemed far away. My mind drifted away to a distant beach, where I built sandcastles with Alexis and let the warm seawater wash along my legs. A vacation would definitely be in order once things were all said and done.

  When Stacy ended the class, it didn’t feel like an hour had passed. “Okay, everyone, that’s going to do it for today’s class. Great job.”

  Everyone clapped, and I joined in before pulling my phone out of my pocket. I checked it, certain that there would be a message that something had gone wrong with Alessandro, but the only notification was a picture message from Ricky of Alexis and her cousins, Anna, Antonio, and Amanda, all dressed up in their swimsuits, prepared to go for a dip in the enclosed pool on the new Varasso estate in Maine. I texted a response back about how cute they looked and kept my phone grasped in my hand just in case.

  Stacy walked over to me and put her hand on my back. “Sorry, I usually do some mingling, but I can cut it short if—”

  I waved my hand at her. “No, no, no. You go, it’s fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “Of course I am.”

  Stacy gave my back a little rub before going to walk amongst the students of her class, all of whom were standing around, waiting for the opportunity to talk to her. She was like a mini-celebrity in this weird, yoga world. It was interesting to watch. For a moment, I imagined sitting down with Alessandro after we got back home and telling him about the entire thing. The weird aura stuff Stacy told me about in her car, the crazed, self-proclaimed fangirl of our family, how yoga actually did calm me down, and how Stacy was some sort of weird yoga goddess.

  He wasn’t just my husband, he was my best friend. He was always the one I talked to. I don’t think I’d told Alessandro a story in our entire relationship that he didn’t listen to with heightened anticipation, like everything that was interesting to me was also interesting to him. The realization that our relationship wasn’t there anymore crushed me. I thought about Ricky phoning it in while I tried to tell him the same story, and decided I was probably going to end up keeping it to myself. In the blink of an eye, I was depressed again and just wanted to go home and go to bed.

  “Are you really moving to Harpswell?”

  My head shot up at the question. No one knew that the Varassos were relocating to Harpswell. We’d all been specifically careful not to mention what city in Maine we were traveling to. Even Stacy was sacrificing her existing following by not telling anyone where her business was going. She said she’d find new customers but would never forgive herself if someone followed us because of her.

  I scanned the crowd for Stacy and was not surprised to see her standing next to fangirl Denise. “How sad that Philly is losing your awesome business.”

  “Oh, I know, it’s sad,” Stacy responded, unphased. “It’ll be a bummer losing everyone here, but I’ve got some great recommendations for other studios in Philly on the reception desk outside. You should check one of them out.”

  Denise pouted. “Well, I’ll do that, but none of them will be like going to a class led by the Stacy Varasso.” She looked over at me. “Or visited by the Willow Varasso.”

  Stacy laughed. “You’re gonna give me a big ego with all that talk. Trust me, I have not had that much of an impact on the yoga scene in Philly. There are lots of amazing, holistically-centered studios here. I’ve talked to all of my recommendations personally, so please give one of them a c
all.”

  Denise seemed satisfied for the time being and knelt to start rolling up her mat while Stacy resumed floating around the room. I kept a close eye on Denise as she packed up, and I was waiting for her to take her leave when she pulled her mat under her arm and continued to stand there, waiting. A few times she looked over at me and smiled, and I was careful not to return the gesture. She knew way more than she should, bordering on stalking, and if she was after Stacy or me, or even one of the brothers, I didn’t want to show her any additional warmth that might welcome her behavior.

  Stacy continued to talk to her students, passing out brochures to those who asked for recommendations of where to go when her studio closed. One by one, the students said goodbye, thanking Stacy for her time, and then left. Stacy gave a student a tight hug before waving goodbye, and once that student left, the only people left in the studio were me, Stacy, and Denise.

  Stacy grinned at her. “Did you need something else?”

  “Sorry,” she huffed. “Just being a dork again. I wanted to say that I stood alone with Stacy and Willow Varasso.” She took a few steps forward. “Did Kelly have her baby yet?”

  What. The. Fuck? Who the hell was this woman, and why did she know so much about my family?

  “Not yet,” Stacy responded normally. “You sure are studied.”

  “Like I said, I’m a fan,” Denise replied and then turned her gaze to me. “How’s your daughter? Alexis, right?”

  I didn’t like my daughter’s name coming out of her mouth and didn’t respond. It was taking everything in me not to sock her in the face. She didn’t seem bothered by my silence and kept going. “I saw Ricky on television with Sasha recently. Is it cool being best friends with a celebrity?”

  I’d take Stacy’s aura stuff over how uncomfortable Denise made me feel. I wanted to tell her to leave immediately. Stacy laughed. “You are a blast. I have a couple more classes coming up. Will you come back? I’ll give you a complimentary session.”