Owning the Mafia Don

Proserpina

I was soon bustling around in the kitchen and talking to my staff at the Centre in Japan. We had planned to set up a new center in one of the smaller towns, and there were logistical problems. My friend and erstwhile assistant, Alex Wu was beside himself, trying to do things on his own. I knew he would manage, but he was a person who sometimes needed to have his hand held.

Chicken taquitos served on a bed of lettuce topped with sauce, salsa and cheese; that was our dinner for tonight. I knew that my twins and Paddy relished it and I went about, preparing it with, of course, Beatrice grumpily hovering; the old woman would have liked me to be in bed and resting. But with anxious Alex and my own obsession to see that dinner was done just so, it was not possible.

I smiled and kissed the old woman, giving her a gentle hug as I spoke to Alex consolingly. Sophie wandered into the kitchen and I smiled at her but my conversation was too intense. Fleetingly, I wondered why she had come. She was cool and indifferent, on the few occasions I had rung up to speak to her, she had seemed clipped and unfriendly.

From the daily reports I gathered from the hospital staff, I knew that her mother would never regain consciousness. The older woman was in a coma. But Sophie was refusing to let her go. Having never had a mother to regard as a benchmark, I could only guess at her feelings. But I was prepared to let her hang on there with hope in her heart. Lucien had once asked me about it but I had begged him to continue to let the old woman stay on in the hospital. He had given me one of his piercing looks and growled,

“You are too soft, woman.’ But he had stroked my lower lip with a thick thumb and left it at that.

*

My mother had run away with a man she had met at a bar a couple of years after I was born, leaving me with my aunt and a very annoyed uncle. I had grown up, knowing I was a burden, another mouth to feed. My mother’s sister had been sweet and loving in her own way but she could never be my mother. She had had five children when I last heard from her.

As a child, one of my earliest memories was that of having waited at the door, hoping my mom would come back.

She never did.

*

I wanted Sophie to inform us when she felt the need to let her mother pass away in peace. Until then, I told myself, we would foot the bills for the hospital treatment.

I knew my husband well enough. Lucien would not go against my wishes.

*

Now I looked at Sophie. She was still standing at the doorway, a guarded look on her face. Watching me.

I smiled and waved my hand encouragingly.

‘Come on inside” I mouthed with a smile as Alex finally agreed to take my advice.

Switching off the phone, I smiled again as I beckoned Sophie.

“Come inside. You aren’t a stranger.’

From behind me, I heard Beatrice give a loud snort, and I tried not to sigh. The old woman disliked Sophie intensely.

One of the maids appeared: Claude, toddling ahead of her, clutching a few of the twins’ color crayons in his plump fists. He looked like a Baby on a Mission.

Ria hurtled in after him like a whirlwind, followed closely by Piers and the puppy, with Paddy in tow.

All of a sudden, the kitchen was engulfed in noise.

“MUMMA!’ yelled my daughter, her blonde curls flying.

“I relay must get her hair trimmed,’ I thought absently.

“Yes, poppet?’ I asked as I arranged the chicken taquitos the way I wanted them to be.

‘Claude! He is a MONSTER!’

The little fellow, who had reached my side, immediately clung to my legs and chuckled infectiously. I smiled down at him as Beatrice joined the fray.

‘Girl shoulda been spanked years ago.’ She snapped but I could see her eyes twinkling. She loved the twins but Piers was her favourite.

‘Bea!’ cried my daughter, the very picture of outrage with her small fists on her hips.

Paddy had appeared behind Sophie and was grinning broadly. He approached me, shoving Sophie away and I stretched my arms to give him a cuddle.

“New baby?’ he asked excitedly, patting my stomach, and I giggled.

Piers was beside him, chewing on a piece of lettuce.

“We told Paddy that we are going to have a new set of sisters or brothers or both.’ He said, nonchalantly.

*

The loud gasp from Sophie drew my attention.

‘You are pregnant again?’ she asked, incredulously.

Ria turned to her, clapping her hands joyously and singing,

‘ Twins like us! Twins like us!’

She began to dance around the kitchen, grabbing Paddy and Claude too to make a little circle.

Sophie’s eyes rounded and shifted to my belly.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

*

I felt my face turn warm. Sophie had sounded almost accusatory. And I felt uncomfortable as she stared at me.

But before I could respond, Lucien’s booming voice echoed in the corridor.

‘Woman!’ he thundered.

One of his men appeared in the doorway almost immediately.

“Ma’am, he said respectfully, ‘The Boss wants to see you.’

Obviously, the deafening noise from the kitchen had made us oblivious to his summons. My husband invariably roared from the study when he needed me.

As I moved to the door slowly, disentangling myself gently from Claude and Paddy, I dusted my apron and took it off. Once again, I felt Sophie’s searching eyes on me.

Beatrice was about to open her mouth and give Sophie a piece of her mind, but I stopped her with a gentle squeeze on her arm.

She murmured something uncomplimentary and settled for glaring at Sophie instead.

*

Suddenly, Lucien appeared at the door.

He looked annoyed.

‘The f*ck woman!” he roared and stopped as he saw Sophie. His men were hovering behind him.

“Why are you in the kitchen? ‘ he snapped at me.

I dimpled at him. I had learned to deal with him when he was like an angry bear. His gaze sharpened on me but I saw his shoulders relax, just a little.

His cold, unfriendly gaze shifted to Sophie.

“I have guests arriving.”

He snapped and once again, the cold gaze briefly stayed on Sophie briefly, openly hostile before he turned away.

“Woman, in my study NOW! I need to talk to you. Schwartz and his woman are coming for dinner tomorrow.’ He barked as he strode away, already on his phone.

*

My gaze was on Sophie, and I saw her reaction.

She had stiffened when she heard Lucien, and I knew she was afraid of him.

Everyone was!

But now, it was a different kind of expression. The blood seemed to leave her face in a rush and she looked defeated.

She wilted.

‘I think…I must go…’she stammered.

And tugging a resisting Paddy forcefully, she marched out of the kitchen abruptly.

*

Sophie.

She sat in the car, tears flowing down her cheeks. Paddy was howling in the back seat, but for once, she could not care. The hurt in her heart was too great for her and that was all she was aware of.

When Delano had walked in to see his wife, he had looked at her with disdain and dislike; like she was a worm that had crawled onto his fancy floor. Disturbing his beautiful, sexy wife. Her lips twisted.

She hated him.

But it was what he had said that had broken her heart.

She thought of Lucien Delano’s words.

Schwartz and his woman are coming for dinner tomorrow.

So Handsome James was hitched up with a new woman? It had to be a serious thing or he would hardly bring her to the Delano estate to meet Proserpina.

She gave a small sob.

Proserpina, she thought. She knew that Worthington and his lot were planning something.

Something that involved Proserpina.

One part of her gloated; surely Proserpina Delano should also suffer a little?

The other side of her felt stricken. The woman was kind and loving. Did she deserve to be hurt?

Especially when she was pregnant again?

And the knowledge that the woman was pregnant with twins this time, made her feel strangely uneasy.

She sniffed and wiped her nose.

She would have to tell Worthington…