by S. J. Smith
Mafia Princess
S.J. Smith
Copyright © 2020 S.J. Smith
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
First edition
ISBN: 978-0-6488500-0-7
Cover design by: Lauren Armandi
Printed in the Australia
sjsmithbooks.com
To Matt for inspiring me to do what's right for me.
To my parents for always supporting me and encouraging me to make my dreams come true.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Mafia Hierarchy
Italian - English
Acknowledgement
About The Author
Prologue
Since Alexis Angelo was dropped off on the first day of high school, she'd been the subject of many whispered conversations and nervous glances. Every time her father made headlines or was the subject of some second-rate news blogger, she heard her classmates and teachers alike wondering if she'd turn out to be just like him. Some of them wondered if her mum knew what she was in for when she married Anthony Angelo. Others believed that she had married him because of the danger and excitement of it all. A real-life mafia movie.
There were the few who were either very brave or very stupid who actually asked Alexis what it was her father did for a living. At first, she would give them ridiculous answers; lion tamer, pet psychologist, conquistador. She enjoyed watching them scramble to google the name for a Spanish explorer.
Now, two years on, she just glared at them until they left, which they now did very quickly. The same people who had once been her friends all through primary school suddenly treated her like the kid who ate his own snot.
One of them had been brave enough to tell Alexis that their parents told them to stop being her friend. They didn't want their precious God-fearing children associated with a mobster’s daughter.
There were others of course who actually believed all the stuff written about her family, and they stayed away from her without any prompting from their parents. Those were the people that warned all the new kids about her, told them to stay away in case they got sucked into her family's criminal ways.
After her uncle got arrested the summer before she started high school, Alexis had only a few friends outside of her Family that didn't care what other people said. They'd stuck by her through everything, all the snide remarks and invasive questions. They didn't care who her father was or what her uncle had been accused of, they just liked her for who she was. When you're surrounded by overly privileged, silver spoon fed brats, finding a few that weren't looking to work some kind of angle of their own was pretty rare.
What her classmates and teachers weren't aware of during all of their whisperings about her family, was that Tony Angelo, her dad, had one strict rule about his daughter and the family business; they were to stay very very far away from each other. He'd actually added a few more 'verys' when he originally made the rule, but for the sake of time, it was shortened to two in recent recollections of that fateful day. However, her father didn't realise that Alexis had every intention of one day being a part of the family business.
Some psychologists might think that the whole lifestyle had been romanticised by TV shows and movies, but that wasn't it. There was something about having the power to protect the people you love; she wanted that power. She knew everything that her parents did, it didn't scare her like it probably should, but then again, being a criminal was in her blood, it was as natural to her as breathing.
After all, she was a mafia princess.
Chapter 1
There was something to be said for a man who could take a relatively boring topic and make it absolutely coma inducing. Alexis struggled to keep her eyes open as the vice principal reminded everyone of the school's uniform code. Dress hems must touch the knee. Shirts tucked in. Hats worn whenever not undercover during the summer terms. Welcome to the snooze fest.
Alexis found her gaze drifting away from the front. She scanned the crowd in front of her, not looking for anyone or anything in particular. She remembered how she'd done the same thing four years go and been met with countless pairs of eyes. The memory sent a spark of sadness through her.
Alexis tried not to think of the events that had led to her becoming a social pariah at twelve, but sometimes it couldn't be helped.
◆◆◆
Alexis had known from a young age that being an Angelo meant certain things. It meant that sometimes her dad went away for days at a time, and then come home with bruised knuckles and a weary look in his eyes. Sometimes he came home and she heard him hissing in pain whenever he moved too fast in a certain way. It also meant that once a week they swept the house for bugs.
The first time her dad explained it to her, she'd been so confused which wasn't surprising since she was six at the time. How does one explain to their six-year-old that the magnet she found attached to her Disney princess statue was actually a listening device planted by the authorities to get information on a suspected mob boss?
Once it had been explained to her how dangerous these little devices were, she would search the house for them every day for months, even after her parents assured her that they'd gotten them all. They believed that she thought it was just a game, find all the listening devices and get a prize!
What Tony and Carmen Angelo didn't realise was that their only child had picked up on a lot more than they'd ever dreamed. She had overheard their conversations about police raids and not keeping anything incriminating at the house. She'd overheard the weird conversations Tony had with his brothers, whom she later found out where actually his capos. She also knew about the hidden floor safe that in her dad's office with all their passports and getaway money.
So six years later when her Zia Claire pulled into the driveway, her headlights off, Alexis knew that it wasn't going to be a normal visit. She knelt on the couch watching from the living room window as her dad opened up the front passenger side door and pulled her Zio Marco out. Zia Claire reached into the back seat and pulled a sleeping Damian into her arms. Alexis marvelled at how her aunt was able to pick up her ten-year-old cousin with such ease. She'd tried herself once, it wasn't easy. She'd once commented that instead of being all skin and bone he was made up of skin and rocks shaped like bone.
Alexis rushed to the front door pulling it open jus
t in time for her encumbered aunt to reach the front steps. Her aunt spared her little more than a glance as she carried her son across the threshold. Alexis tried not to take it personally. Her mum came next placing two bags at the top of the stairs before running back to the car to grab what was left. Her uncle Marco was limping so badly that her mum was able to return from the car and bring all the bags inside before they even got to the steps. Once they stepped into the light of the house, having not dared turn on the porch light in case the neighbours looked out their window, Alexis could see why.
A belt was tightened around Marco's upper thigh, his entire left pant leg was soaked in drying blood. His face was pale and a sweat had broken out across his forehead.
"Hey slugger," Marco breathlessly greeted his oldest niece.
"Hi Zio Marco," Alexis said, staring up at him wide eyed, panic rising in her chest. Her dad had come home with his fair share of injuries, but never had he looked this bad. The only people she'd seen look this bad before where actors in TV shows, and generally once they were made to look this bad it meant they were dying.
"Carmen, can you get an ETA on the Doc?" her dad asked as he helped his brother past the living room and down the hall to the guest bathroom.
"I already did, he's three minutes out. He said to try and keep Marco from slipping into shock before he gets here."
"Yeah, right," Tony muttered almost dismissively. He could feel the cold sweat soaking through his baby brother's clothes, and he was starting to feel more and more like dead weight.
"Alexis, go with your mum and get some blankets for your uncle, preferably ones she doesn't mind getting bloody or I'll be hearing about it for weeks," he called behind him.
The rustling of her clothes as she ran after her mother was all the acknowledgement he needed of his request. As he settled his brother into the bathtub a soft but firm knocking on the front door had Tony letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
Alexis made her way down the hallway, her socked feet slipping on the wooden floor. Catching herself against the wall she set off for the linen closet as quickly as she dared. Her mum was already there, a pile of folded blankets at the ready. They were the scratchy ones that every household seemed to have, the ones no one really remembering where they came from or why they were kept due to how uncomfortable they were. Before she could take the blankets away, her mum plopped a spare pillow on top of the pile as well. Alexis considered making a joke about her uncle being forced to sleep in the bathtub but thought better of it.
Hearing her uncle's voice as she approached the bathroom door, Alexis slowed down to a full stop.
"Boss, I'm so sorr-"
"Shut up you mamaluke! He's trying to concentrate."
Alexis listened outside the ajar bathroom door as fabric ripped. There was an odd sound, almost like when her mum cutting raw chicken and then the tinkling of metal against porcelain. All the while Zio Marco kept hissing and let out a low groan.
"Alexis, stop hovering outside the door would you?"
Alexis almost jumped out of her skin. Why was she even hiding, her uncle needed the blankets. Not wasting anymore time she pushed the door open just enough for her small body to slip through, a sheepish smile on her face.
"Sorry, daddy. Sorry Zio Marco."
Doctor Lee, at least that was what Alexis had called him since she was small and couldn't pronounce his last name, was kneeling outside the bathtub. It reminded Alexis of when her dad used to give her baths as a toddler.
Her uncle was laying inside the bath, his left leg elevated so his foot rest on the end, his hands gripping the edges so hard his knuckles were turning white. She tried not to look at her uncle's exposed and bloody leg.
"We're almost done here, the doc does quick work. Why don't you help me get your uncle comfortable, he might be in here for a while," her dad instructed.
"I think mum figured the same thing," Alexis smiled weakly as she placed the pillow gently behind her uncle's head. Once it was firmly in place he leaned his head back against it, sighing in relief.
"Thanks for that sweethear-" he sucked air through clenched teeth as Dr Lee made sure the wound was well and truly disinfected. "My neck was killing me," Marco finally breathed out.
"Oh so long as it's just your neck that hurts," Alexis smirked down at her uncle trying to appear calmer than she felt. Zio Marco wasn't just her dad's favourite.
"Zio, how'd you get shot?" The question slipped from her lips before she could stop herself. Slapping a hand over her mouth Alexis stared at her father wide eyed. He just looked back at her, his own face not giving away any clues as to his thoughts.
"Well bambina," Marco drew her attention back to him, "I was working and got into a bit of a disagreement with some guys and one of them shot me." As simple as that.
"Are they going to come after you again?"
Alexis knew exactly what her uncle meant by 'working', and she knew that whatever had caused this particular disagreement wasn't just some construction timeline issue.
"That's a good question Lex. Are they going to come after you Marc?" her dad asked from his place beside the tub. Dr Lee remained focused on stitching up the leg in front of him, but that didn't stop him from being interested in the answer himself.
"We're all good boss. We eventually came to an agreement and decided to... amicably part ways. I've sent a few guys to clean up the mess at the workshop so that we're ready for business as usual tomorrow."
Sometimes Alexis wondered why their 'codes' were so easy to interpret. Even if she hadn't been listening in on most of her dad's work conversations since she was five, Alexis still would've been able to figure out what her uncle had meant.
"Well good, everyone knows that loose ends are bad for business. Baby girl why don't you go ask your mum to put together a plate of food for your Zio Marco?" And with that, she was dismissed. Whatever was about to be discussed wasn't for her ears... unfortunately.
Dropping a kiss onto her uncle's cheek with a wish for him to feel better, Alexis slipped from the bathroom.
Alexis started her search for her mother. She didn't want to call out for her in case she woke her cousin Damian. How he'd managed to sleep through everything she had no idea, but it wouldn't help anything to wake him up now. So she went from room to room, her socked feet making next to no noise on the tiled hallways. As she neared the kitchen she heard her mum and Zia Claire talking quietly.
"What happened Claire, really?" her mum asked, concern thick in her voice.
"I married an idiot, that's what happened. I should've listened to my father, God rest his soul. He said that marrying a made man would only bring me heartache, and he was right." Claire started to get louder and more hysterical.
"Claire, for God's sake pull it together and quiet down or you'll wake Damian."
Alexis heard a cupboard opening and the sound of glass being set down on the stone benchtop. Then the fridge door opening and shutting before a top was unscrewed. She didn't need to be in the room to know that her mum was pouring her aunt a very generous glass of wine.
"Don't worry about Damian. He'll be out for at least another six hours," Claire stated.
"What did you do? Drug him?" There was no humour in her mum's voice.
"Oh, it was only a sleeping pill. I crushed it up and put it in some milk. He was freaking out about his father being shot, and I couldn't deal with him and Marco at the same time," Claire said, no hint of remorse in her voice.
Alexis suddenly felt a wave of anger towards her Zia Claire. She knew that it was wrong and she should respect her aunt, but wasn't it also wrong to drug your children? Damian was only ten after all. Why didn't she try talking to him? How was she going to deal with it when Damian woke up? Explain the truth to him or play it all off as a bad dream?
Not wanting to stand there any longer and possibly be caught eavesdropping again, Alexis pushed open the kitchen door and called out to her mum.
"Hey mum, dad asked if you could put
together some food for Zio Marco. Hi Claire," Alexis said, barely sparing her aunt a glance. She would hear it for that one later. In their family respect was key and referring to one's aunts and uncles as anything but Zia or Zio was seen to be disrespectful. To not even call Claire 'auntie' was as much of a slap in the face as Alexis could get away with.
For now.
Damian was the closest thing that Alexis had to a little brother and she didn't like anyone messing with him. Including his mother.
From the way her mum's right eyebrow arched and her lips pursed Alexis knew that her mum knew she'd been eavesdropping and that there would be a conversation about it later. Not that it would be the first time she'd gotten in trouble for that exact crime.
"I take it then that Dr Lee is wrapping things up?" Alexis’ nickname for the Family doctor had caught on. Alexis nodded the affirmative and went to the cupboard to grab a dinner plate for her uncle.
Setting down her still empty wine glass Carmen went to the fridge and fetched the leftovers from dinner. Taking the dinner plate from her daughter, Carmen started dishing out a generous serving of chicken and roasted potatoes. When the plate was full she covered it with cling wrap and put it in the microwave to heat up before dishing out tossed salad into a separate bowl.