Page 43 of Shattered King

Fiorella

I linger in my father’s old office. The shelves are barren, and most of the books are packed away. Only a few family photos are left behind. The drawers of his desk were emptied out, and the filing cabinets were combed through and mostly discarded.

“Everything feels gutted,” I say when a person steps in through the door. I look over, and Luca’s watching me with a slight frown.

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a lot of change.” I lean against the desk for a moment and run my fingers along the side. “Dad spent a lot of time in here. It felt like this was some kind of magical cave where big, scary, adult things happened.”

“Emphasis on the scary.” Luca smiles and comes toward me. “You had a good relationship with your father.”

“I did and I didn’t. After the panic room, we butted heads a lot. I hated him when he arranged for me to marry you. Now I look back, and I’m happy he did it.”

“Everyone has complicated relationships. It’s just how life goes.”

“What about this?” I go to him and put my hands on his chest. His heartbeat is steady and strong. “Is this complicated?”

“Yes and no. Do you really want something simple and easy? When we’re together, it’s incredible. But everything around us?”

“Stressful.”

“Like what’s about to happen in that meeting room.” He bends down and kisses me. “You don’t need to see it.”

“Yes, I do. It was partially my idea.”

“Raf seemed more than excited for it.”

“Still, I’m the one that proposed it, and I should be the one to deal with the consequences.” Fear rattles in my chest.

A weak part of me wants to take the out Luca is offering and hide away in here until everything is over.

But if I want to stay and be a part of the Famiglia, it’s time for me to pay my dues.

I can’t be that soft girl anymore. Everyone always thought I was so tough, but really that was just a sham. I wore toughness like a mask. It covered up the truth.

Now though, I want to be everything I’ve always pretended to be.

“Then it’s time to go.” He kisses me one more time. “You stay at the edge of the room, alright? When the time comes, don’t move.”

“I promise.”

“That’s my girl.” He laces his fingers into mine. “Now come on. You’re my queen, remember?”

“I’m your goddess, and don’t you forget it.”

I do my best to play the part. I keep my chin up and stride along with him as we make our way to the large conference room at the bottom of the house.

Capos used to come here weekly to have meetings with Dad back in the day.

Now it’s packed and crowded with all the men who refused to bend the knee to Raf only just a few days ago.

Most of the faces around me are intimately familiar.

Smoke drifts through the air from cigars and cigarettes.

Drinks are passed around, and there’s laughter.

They’re talking business, pleasure, anything right now.

Raf is in among them, shaking hands, accepting fealty, grinning and limping along.

My brother is pale and still weak, but he’s putting on a good show.

I remember what it was like when my father would gather all the Capos together.

I was so terrified of them. But most of the men would be kind to me.

And many of them were my relatives. Uncles and cousins and men who married in.

I’d see them in the basement, playing the role of mafia killer, and only a day later we’d be sitting at the community pool laughing and splashing and acting normal.

Growing up like this was strange, but it was good. At least until it all came crashing down.

Raf makes his way to the head of the room.

All eyes follow my brother as he turns to face the gathered men.

There are eight Capos present, including Filippo.

He’s placed to the right of Raf in a position of high honor.

I doubt everyone knows about the vote, or else there’d be a lot more arguing and fighting. But there’s still time for that.

“I appreciate you all coming today,” Raf says quietly.

His voice is weaker than it used to be and slightly raspy.

The men quiet down as they strain to hear their new Don speak.

“Things have been very, very difficult for the Famiglia these last few months. My father’s illness was hard on everyone.

The organization’s debts have been crushing.

And more recently, the coward and traitor Corrado nearly destroyed everything we love. ”

“But you sent that fucker back to the grave!” one of the older Capos calls out, a man named Big Marty. There are cheers and laughter at that.

Raf manages a small smile. “With the help of our allies in the Marino Famiglia, we took care of Corrado. But hear me now.” My brother’s face falls as he looks around the room. “The threat isn’t over.”

A hush falls. I feel the tension. Big Marty’s smirk disappears, and he looks grim instead. Raf lets the silence fester and thicken.

Another of the Capos can’t take it anymore. “You know we’re loyal, Don Serrano,” he says. He’s one of my cousins, a man with a sharp nose and shaggy dark hair. He called me a bitch one time at a family party ten years ago.

“I know that when things were darkest, none of you came to my aid.” Raf stares at them, one after the other. “I know that one of your number tried to end my life and nearly succeeded. I know that only my sister and her husband kept me going when everyone else turned their backs.”

“Don Serrano, the situation was complicated,” Big Marty says, spreading his hands. “We did what we could, but?—”

“You didn’t do enough.” Raf stares at him grimly. There’s movement at the edges of the room. “The Famiglia is mine. And as the Don, my first act is to clean house. It’s time we get a fresh start. We need new ideas and new faces. And with that?—”

The Capos know what’s coming. They’re not stupid.

Luca pulls me against him, and we drift toward the walls as Raf’s soldiers draw their guns and step up behind each of the men sitting at the table.

Eight gunshots ring out, followed by several more as some of the paranoid Capos try to get away.

But in the end, the table is painted with their blood and brains.

I have to cover my mouth to keep from getting sick.

It’s one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen in my life.

Filippo sits there impassively, frowning at all the bodies. “What a mess,” he murmurs as Big Marty slumps over beside him.

Men I’ve known all my life.

Killed in seconds.

“Hail the new Don,” Luca calls out once it’s over.

“Hail the Don,” the living men echo, the soldiers putting away their guns, Filippo respectfully bowing his head.

Raf stands at the head of the crimson table, his eyes dark and sunken, looking exhausted and worn thin. “Here’s to new beginnings,” he says, looking up at me. “Here’s to doing better.”

Luca puts an arm around my shoulders and steers me from the room. I move with him, numb and scared, as he speaks to me softly. He kisses me lightly, but I can barely feel anything.

“Here’s to freedom,” I whisper, leaning into my husband as he holds me.

The gunshots keep ringing in my ears.

The screams echo through the halls.