36
BETRAYEDCROWN
A DARK MAFIA ROMANCE
AUTUMN REIGN
Copyright © 2021 by Autumn Reign
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including informationstorage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a bookreview.
CONTENTS
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1. Alessia2. Leonardo3. Tony Mariani4. Leonardo5. Alessia6. Teo7. Manuel8. Hugh Caruso9. Alessia10. Leonardo
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I
1
ALESSIA
walked quickly down the hallway and into the library. I had made sure to shake offthe guard that had been tailing me. Leonardo had said it was just two guards, but Ihad recently discovered there were more. The two guards had restricted access in
the school, but I had noticed another one about three months ago. He was much youngerthan the other two. I had recently learned that Leonardo had also hired him to watchover me in the school since he blended in much better as a student. When I got into thelibrary I looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everyone here had theirheads buried in unending pages of books. I walked to the librarian’s office.
My heart nearly jumped out of my mouth when an image of my father greeted mysight. I ran and embraced him.
“Mia figlia,” he exclaimed upon seeing me. “How are you?”“I am fine, papa.”“You’ve matured a lot, Sia. You’ve grown into a fine young woman.”“Thank you, papa.”Even though our last conversation hadn’t ended well, I was very happy seeing him
here. He had sent me a message instructing me to come here to meet someone, but Ihad no idea he would show up himself.
“What about our man out there?” he said, referring to the young guard that tailed mearound in the school.
“I made sure I shook him off, papa.”“Very good,” he replied. “Now sit down, we have serious matters to discuss.”I sat down facing him. He settled into the librarian’s chair.“Aren’t you wondering how I got in here?” he asked.“You’re mafia, papa; I know you have your ways.”“I wish you didn’t know about all this, my love. I wish you weren’t dragged into this
type of life,” he said with a lot of sorrow in his voice.“It’s not your fault, papa, I chose this life myself. I chose to be with Leonardo; it was
my decision, and it had nothing to do with you.”He didn’t reply to what I had just said. He sat in silence, and I knew he was
contemplating how to tell me what he had called me here for – how to remove LeonardoCaruso from the throne that had corrupted him.
“So, have you made a decision regarding what we discussed the last time?” he finallyasked me.
I didn’t reply; I had no idea what to say. Why had fate dealt me such a terrible blow?How many women are put into such a dire situation as mine, in which they have tochoose between their father and their husband? Was this the price I had to pay for beingpart of a rich family and living a life filled with luxury? I wished for a simple life at thatmoment.
“Sia, talk to me,” he demanded.I couldn’t hold it any longer. I began to cry.“I… I’m sorry, Sia,” he said and stretched his arm out, placing it on my shoulder. “I
understand it is a hard decision for you, but I need you to understand that this isnecessary. If Leonardo remains on the throne a lot more bad things will happen to all ofus, including you. He’s too ambitious and violent, and from the looks of things, I’m surehe no longer shows you as much love as he used to.”
The expression I subconsciously had on my face gave me away. It confirmed to himthat what he had just said was true.
“Tell me the truth, papa; you are not going to kill him, right?” I finally said aftergaining some composure. “What do you want me to do?”
“It’s very simple. You’ll have to lure him out of the Caruso mansion to a designatedplace I’ll tell you. After you do that, leave the rest to me.”
Great, was there anything worse that fate had in store for me? I was to be the bait tolure my husband into the hands of my father.
I WAS EXHAUSTED when I got back home. I got to my room and fell on the bed. I plungedmyself into my usual endless thoughts. I felt lonely. I needed someone to talk to, andbecause of the family business, I barely had any friends outside the circle, and this wassurely no matter to be discussing with my friends in the other family.
I just wanted Leonardo back, back into my arms. I know this wouldn’t be possible aslong as he remained the Don of the Caruso family. It was for this reason I had decided togo along with my father’s plan. My father was using me, but I had to accept it as my fateif it would help bring back the Leonardo I once knew.
“Madam Caruso!” one of the guards called. “Your brother is here to see you.”“Let him in,” I ordered.“Teo, how are you?” I asked.“I’m good, Sia,” he replied.But I could see he was far from good. He had a lot of worry in his eyes. I quickly
understood why - he was probably in a similar dilemma as mine.“What’s the matter?” I asked him.He didn’t reply. He just sat there like a ten-year-old, his legs shaking.“Come on, man, what’s wrong?” I asked once again. “Has father spoken to you?”He looked at me. “Yes, he has, and he told me he has spoken to you too.”
Our voices were somewhat like a whisper as guards were standing outside.“And are you going along with his plan?” I asked him.“Are you?” he asked in reply.“If it’s what will bring Leonardo back to the way he was before all this power
corrupted him, I will help my father.”“You are well aware of the consequences if this fails?” he asked me.“Yes, I am, but father has assured me that it won’t in any way implicate me.”“Sia, he promised to protect us, but where is he now? In need of our protection. If not
for the love Grandpa Carmine had for us, he would have killed us all for our very ownfather’s mistake.”
“So what are you saying, Teo?”“I don’t think father will be able to protect us. I have a bad feeling about this.” He
looked at me and held my hand, “I feel this plan will fail and backfire terribly.”“So what are you going to do?” I asked him.“I’m going to stay out of it. In fact, I will look for an excuse to go somewhere far
away.”“Are you running away?”“Yes, if you want to put it that way. You can call me a coward, but I don’t want to
choose between my father and my best friend.”Yes, he was acting like a coward, but I couldn’t blame him. His heart must probably
be torn. I’m sure he would have spent sleepless nights thinking about the matter, andwhen he couldn’t find the right answer, he concluded that running away was it.
“So what would you do, sister?” he asked me.“I would stay and fight through whatever might come. I don’t care if you run and leave
me. Father did the same too in the past, and you want to do so too, so I don’t blame youif you cower away - but as for me, I will stay.”
“So what will you do?”“If the time comes, I will make my decision.”I had no idea what my decision would be when it really came time to do it, but I had
to look strong before my brother. I had to look decisive and confident; after all, I was thewife of Don Leonardo Caruso.
L
2
LEONARDO
eonardoThe figure that got out of the black SUV was a small, portly man. He was one
of the men that my grandfather didn't entirely trust, yet he was in charge of theOlives Hotel in Miami. When I asked my grandfather why he allowed him to continuerunning the hotel even though he knew the man kept some of the earnings from the hotelfor himself, he told me that he was a man who possessed many talents. He explained tome that the hotel wasn't the only thing the man ran for the family. He also ran theneighborhood, and he had helped the family consolidate its hold there.
But I had recently learned that the man had sinned - against God and against myfamily. Yes, all have sinned, but no one should come short of my glory. I wasn't asmerciful as our savior. Retribution had to be brought upon him swiftly. I watched him ashe made his way to the rear side of the hotel as I stood behind a truck in the rain withReno by my side. He was one of the very few people I trusted after Boris. In fact, Borishad advised me to keep him closer to myself.
"Let's move," I said to him, and we made our way in the direction where the man hadgone.
We were careful to avoid the CCTV cameras. They were the reason one of our menhad his cover blown in New York. Luckily for us, my grandfather had found a way to puthim to rest before he opened his mouth.
When we got to a brown door, Reno knocked. A big black man opened the door. Hehad his hand in the jacket he wore.
"This is a restricted area," he bellowed."We are looking for Patrizio," Reno replied."I said this is a restricted area," the big man said, and made to push Reno, "so get the
fuck..." Before the man could finish, Reno grabbed his arm and with lightning speed, heretrieved a switchblade and buried it deep in the man's neck. Blood spurted out. He fell tothe floor, clutching his neck. Reno looked inside and returned to drag the lifeless bodyinside.
This was why I loved Reno; he was a born killer. He could kill a man in a thousandways. He was an ex-convict. He had previously served as a US Navy Seal but got kickedout due to bad behavior. After he was kicked out, he beat an influential man almost to
death. He was imprisoned, but when my grandfather heard of an Italian ex-US soldierserving a jail term, he helped get him out and took him in as his own son. Ever since, hehad served my grandfather with unquestionable loyalty and that loyalty had beentransferred to me upon my grandfather's death.
I was still lost in my thoughts when I heard a thud in front of me."You need to focus, Don," Reno said to me.He had just shot a man who’d approached from the corner inside. A moment later and
the man could have retrieved his gun and shot at us. Good thing we’d fitted silencers onour Berettas.
Reno led the way and we came to another door. This one was painted white. I couldhear moans and female voices in the room behind the door. Reno kicked it open with hisgun held steady in front of him. We entered.
Two ladies quickly got off the bed, leaving a pot-bellied, stupid-looking man with aparticularly small erection on the bed.
"Who the hell are you?" he shouted."This is Don Leonardo Caruso," Reno declared.The middle-aged man shot a piercing glance at me. Suddenly, he recognized me.
Grandpa Carmine and I had stayed in the hotel for three days."You're the new Don?" he asked."Don't try to act like you didn't know that I am my grandfather's successor. ""I honestly don't...""Quiet," I commanded. "One more word and I'll blow off that tiny thing you call a
genital."He humbly obeyed and stopped talking.“Get dressed,” I said, motioning to his clothes with my gun.He quickly got off the bed and began putting them on.“That’s enough,” I said. He had only put on his underwear. They were enough cover,
at least for his genitals to be kept out of sight.The two ladies were still on the floor quivering with fear.“Get out!” I shouted at them.They both scrambled for their clothes and bags, barely covering their sweaty naked
bodies as they ran out of the room.Reno then led Patrizio out of the room and to his office. I followed behind. When we
got to the office, I sat in his chair, and Reno motioned for him to sit in the chair facingme. I hated the office; it was cramped, fitting for his stature, not mine, and it reeked ofcheap tobacco.
“You haven’t paid your dues since my grandfather’s death,” I started, ‘why’s that?”“No one has come asking for it,” he replied.“Did anyone ever ask for it before you paid in the past?”“No.”“Then why did you suddenly choose not to?”“The Don was dead, and it was only right for me to have kept the money till a
successor was appointed,” he replied defiantly.
“But you knew I was appointed successor; why haven’t you yet paid?”“You haven’t come asking for it.”“I see you like playing games, Mr. Patrizio. Well, I don’t.”“So what are you going to do? Kill me?”I smiled. “Do you know why my grandfather allowed you to behave as you liked while
he was alive? He knew about the things you did, especially the returns you kept foryourself.”
I observed him as he shot me a puzzled look.“He knew about everything; he wasn’t a fool you know. When I asked him why, he
said it was because you have many talents and you helped the family maintain control ofthis area - in other words, you were an indispensable asset to the family.” I paused for awhile to let what I had just said sink in.
“Even now,” I continued, “after succeeding my grandfather, I still could have followedhis footsteps and let you do as you liked, but I couldn’t for two reasons. Firstly, youhaven’t come to pay homage to me for almost two years since I took over as your newDon, but believe me,” I raised my hand in an act of generosity, “I could still havepardoned this - but the reason why I can’t forgive you is that you decided to cross over tothe other side of the divide. Just tell me, what did the Cappodamos offer to you?”
The surprise and instant fear that appeared on his face were evident.I continued, “What did they give you that made you betray us?” I brought out my
phone. “I am going to make a phone call now, and your kids will somehow die in theirsleep unless you tell me where the stash of cash is.”
“Please, please, don’t hurt my famiglia,” he begged.“Then tell me where it is.”“It is here,” he replied.“Where? Don’t play games with me.” I said.“It’s right here, I’ll get it for you,” he said, raising his hands in an act of surrender. “It’s
right behind you,” he said, pointing to the shelf directly behind where I sat. I got up fromthe chair and made way for him. He walked to it and pulled out three books in aparticular sequence, I noticed. There was a click and the shelf slid open, revealing a safe.He punched in four digits to the safe and placed his palm on the biometric scanner andthe door of the safe gave way. There was a lot of cash in it. More than Reno and I couldcarry at once. I took out my phone.
“Laci, bring the bags,” I said into the phone.Moments later Laci and another man walked in holding four big black empty bags.
Reno helped them stack all the cash in while I watched Patrizio. When they were done,they walked out of the office with my loot in their hands.
“Never once drop your guard.” I suddenly heard my grandfather’s voice andremembered that Patrizio was beside me. I turned in time to shoot first as he brought outa gun from heaven knows where. He fell to the floor, his eyes wide with surprise. I wentand stood over him as he held his chest, struggling for his life.
“In your next life, always remember that loyalty is key,” I said, and shot his head.Blood splattered onto my shoes. Reno and I made our way out of the building and into
the SUV parked down the dimly lit street. It felt a lot warmer in the car. I took off my coatand reclined in the seat. Being the Don had really taken a toll on my mental health. Thiswas another man to add to the list of men I had killed in cold blood. I could feel adarkness growing in my heart. A darkness I had promised myself to keep at bay.
Was my father right about me? Where his premonitions about my rule correct? Was Igoing to really destroy myself and the family? No. I was doing the right thing. I wasmaking the Caruso’s powerful, more powerful than during my grandfather’s reign. Iresolved to do whatever it took to prove him wrong. “Watch and see, father, watch andsee.”
I
3
TONY MARIANI
had promised myself that any chance I got at getting my life and family back, Iwould grab it with both hands. I longed to see my family, all of them, and fate hadpresented me with one more chance to do so. This was a good but dangerous
opportunity - if it failed it could have bad repercussions for not just me, but for the othermembers of my immediate family - especially Alessia, who I was now regrettably using asbait for her own husband. I had never wanted this for her. This wasn’t the bright future Ihad promised myself to give her. But considering all that was at stake, I had no choice.
Using my daughter wasn’t the only thing that made me very unhappy, but my stomachalso cringed at the thought of working alongside Manuel Rivera and his sons in taking theinfamous Don Leonardo Caruso off the throne. I wouldn’t have done this if he had beenso merciful as to welcome me back to the family, but rather he had been cruel enough tomake me a mole in the Cappodamo kingdom. I had faithfully shared all intel I could laymy hands on regarding the family, but he had not been benevolent enough to call meback into the family and I was sick of waiting. I had it all; at least I was going to bebenevolent enough not to kill him.
Manuel was the first individual to come after me. We had been enemies in the past,but we were now allying because we had a common enemy. He was my handler after Iwas captured by Leonardo’s men. So, it was easy for him to approach me with this plan ofhis. I had come along with a top member of the Cappodamo family - that was howdesperate he was to get rid of the rat that sat on the throne, as he referred to Leonardo.In return for the support that Matthew Cappodamo would offer, there had been certainterms of the agreement that had to be met, and that included returning all of theterritories the Caruso family had conquered when a new family got into power, and thatwould be the Rivera family. I wasn’t interested in ascending the throne, I just wanted tobe back with my family, so it was easy for me to agree to it.
I could deal with Manuel Rivera and Matthew Cappodamo, but the third man that waspresent at that same meeting was the most dangerous one. I was shocked to my marrowwhen Hugh Caruso, AKA the Silent Hugh, joined us in the meeting. We were childhoodfriends until the time I betrayed the family. He’d hated me ever since, but just likeManuel, we had to reconcile in order to dispose of his son on the throne. I couldunderstand why he would want to do that, but I couldn’t quite understand why he’d want
to allow the Rivera family to take over and not he. He had always been a sly bastard andthe smartest of our generation. Was he just going to cede power to the Riveras? I knew Ihad to tread carefully with him as one could never predict what he was going to do, buthe could predict what others could do.
I put my hoodie on and quickly crossed the road, heading for the pawnshop on theother side. When I got in, I presented my watch to the attendant. When he looked at it,he understood the code embossed on it.
“The pawnbroker is right this way,” he said, and motioned toward a door behind himand I made for it. As I walked down the passage I’d just entered, I smiled. Thepawnbroker would ensure our plans worked.
E
4
LEONARDO
xhausted would be an understatement as to how I was feeling, it had been fivelong weeks of moving around trying to purify the family business. Some old dogshad to be put to sleep and some illegal businesses had to be closed. I wasn’t
ready to hand the task over to anyone else. Like my grandpa would say, sometimes it isbetter to go out there and do things yourself. Finally, I was heading back home in myprivate jet.
I lay back on the sofa and began to reminisce over the last three years of my life. Ihad stared death in the face several times these past few weeks, but somehow, I hadmanaged to escape on all those occasions and thus I no longer feared death. Reno wasn’tin support of me entering the battlefield by myself but doing so with him by my side hadincreased his trust and loyalty to me. He now revered me as he did my grandpa. He saidI was just like him. But I wanted to be better.
I had missed my love, Alessia. On one of the nights in a hotel, one of my men hadsuggested bringing a lady for me to be with as he suspected I was lonely. I had almostsinned that night, but as soon as I saw her nakedness, I sent her out of the room. Icouldn’t cheat on Alessia, and I knew she too wouldn’t cheat on me. I knew I haddistanced myself from her, as I no longer had time for romance with my wife, and I knewshe wouldn’t be too happy about that. On getting home, I ordered Reno to call for ameeting.
When I got to the room, I was met with Alessia sleeping. Why hadn’t she waited upfor me? I thought to myself. Wasn’t she aware that I was in Manhattan? I walked to thebed where she lay and kissed her lightly on her forehead. She didn’t wake and continuedsleeping. I took off my clothes and looked in the mirror. There was a new scar on myshoulder; I’d got it from a near-death experience. The bastard who had attacked me hadan axe, but my Glock was much better.
I entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. Moments later, I felt a warm bodypress against mine from behind.
“I didn’t want to wake you up when I got back.”“I know,” she said, and held me tighter with her breasts pressed firmly against the
small of my back. “I’ve missed you so much, Leonardo.”
I WALKED into the conference room and everyone stood up and bowed before me. I took myplace at the head of the table, and everyone sat down. I took my time to observe thefaces of everyone seated. My close encounters with death had given me a sixth sense ofperception. I could see that there was a different energy from several members seatedaround the table, especially Manuel Rivera. The old sly fox seemed to be in high spirits;he couldn’t hide it. I knew something was wrong. I had inherited something from myfather – his deductive prowess. It had served me several times in the past few weeks,and it seemed I had awoken it when I was sure I’d die. Something was definitely wrong, Icould feel it in my spirit.
“I’ll get to the point,” I said finally. “It seems we are closer to concluding the war inIreland. Once we do so, I’d like us to focus all our resources towards cleaning up ourbusinesses. In the nearest future, some of our illegal businesses will no longer survive inthis modern world. My orders to you are to work towards achieving that.”
“I understand, Don Caruso. But it will take some time to do that, a very long time, andyou also need to understand that it isn’t possible to fully clean up the business,” AlbertoFaci said. He was the head of the Faci family.
“I believe it is possible,” Boris retorted. He was a firm supporter of the idea that thefamily should legalize all its businesses. “It might take a lot of time, but it is possible, andwe have to do it.”
“I understand your point of view,” Alberto started, “but you need to understand thatsome of these illegal businesses don’t only provide profit to us.”
“What else do they provide?” I asked.“They also provide us with certain connections and links to the top individuals in
societies.” He adjusted his weight on the seat. “Here is what I mean; due to the nature ofsome of our businesses, we get approached by other businessmen and politicians whenthey need someone else to get their hands dirty, and we make extra profits and get theirprotection by doing business with them.”
I had to admit to myself that I hadn’t thought of it from that perspective. He had apoint - we should try to establish legitimate businesses, but also retain some of ourprevious businesses.
“That might be true, but there have been prying eyes watching us,” Boris explained.“Several individuals, including the FBI, have been on our tails for some time now, waitingfor us to make a mistake.” He turned to me, “So my advice, Don Caruso, is that we goahead with your plan.”
“I am not against your plan, Don,” Alberto started, “it’s an excellent idea, and I knowyou decided upon it for the benefit of all of us seated here, but I just want you tounderstand all that I’ve said and take it into consideration.”
“I understand, Alberto, and believe me, I’ll consider what you’ve just said.”“Thank you, Don,” he replied.We deliberated on that matter and several others for the next two hours, each person
bringing an idea and another person countering it. I lost interest in the meeting. I could
tell that several members seated at the table appeared to be distracted.The meeting ended finally, and I retired to my room. Alessia was seated on a chair,
reading.“How was your meeting?” she asked me dryly.“Boring,” I replied, and I went and grabbed her up. I kissed her softly and then
intensely. My hands explored her body and hers mine. We began undressing each other,and soon we were both naked on the bed.
T
5
ALESSIA
he sex was still good, but it didn't feel like before. There was something different;something was missing. I just couldn't connect with him anymore. I was havingsex with him with the knowledge of the fact that I was going to betray him in a
few days. Guilt swept through me. I only took respite in the fact that he wouldn’t bekilled. After barely three minutes of making love, he suddenly exploded inside me. Whatthe fuck? Why so soon? It was getting worse each time.
After he was done, he slipped his half-erect member out of my wetness and fell ontothe bed. I was left to stare at the ceiling unsatisfied. I turned and looked at the man whoused to take me through mind-blowing orgasms. He was already fast asleep. Iimmediately got up and went to the window, and I checked the time. It was twentyminutes past eleven, forty minutes until he said he'd call. I put on my nightie and sat in achair beside the window.
I waited impatiently till twelve in the morning with my phone clenched against mybreasts. At exactly twelve o clock, my phone buzzed. I had set it to vibrate so that Iwould not wake him. I quickly walked out of the room and went downstairs. I headed forthe kitchen; I needed to be out of earshot of everyone, especially Leonardo.
"Hello, papa," I breathed into the phone."It has been agreed. In three days, you should ask him to take you to Bowlmore
Times Square for bowling, understood?""Yes, papa," I replied. "But how..." The line went dead. I walked back to our room.
Leonardo was still sound asleep. I put down my phone and lay beside him. Three days togo.
T
6
TEO
he big day was coming, I could feel it. My father refused to tell me the exact day itwould happen, and Alessia claimed she did not know. I knew they were bothhiding it from me. They feared I might do something stupid. Alessia must be going
through a lot. She had to betray her husband to help her father, and the only thing Icould do about it was run away?
I wasn’t in support of removing Leonardo from the throne. Yes, he had his bad sides,but it was obvious that all he did was for the good of all of us. I never eyed the thronebecause I knew that I lacked most of the vital qualities needed to rule. Leonardo alonehad all of them. Grandpa Carmine had made sure of that. He had trained him well.Leonardo was smart, calm, decisive, and ruthless. The last quality made dangerous mencower before him. His enemies feared him, his allies worshipped him. This was exactlylike Grandpa Carmine.
But truly, the darkness of the power he wielded had eaten deep inside his heart. Hehad changed over the course of the few years since he ascended the throne. He hadbecome something else, something people close to him, including me, feared. Iunderstood why Alessia would want him removed from being the Don. As I sat inLeonardo’s late model Mercedes, I thought back to a time in the past with him.
“So you really won’t talk, will you?” Leonardo asked a man tied to a chair.We were in a warehouse somewhere in Virginia. The man had been thoroughly
beaten. His eyelids were purple, and one eye was shut due to intense swelling. His entireface was a swollen mess filled with blood. The rest of his body hadn’t been spared asthere were cuts here and there and blood leaked through them. Not even Reno had beenable to break the man. I’d learned that he was an ex special-forces agent of Iran whoworked for us as a mercenary, and he had just stolen a large chunk of white powder fromus. It was worth over two hundred million dollars. He had been through several means oftorture over three days.
“Go to hell,” the man spat. He looked to be in his late thirties.“I see you were trained well,” Leonardo said, rolling his sleeves up, “but let’s see how
you handle this.”The next thing that Leonardo did broke the man and went against his moral code.It was something I had never seen. He ordered two men in and one of the men
brought in a pyramid-shaped seat. The other man brought ropes and a waist harness in. Iobserved the Iranian as he watched in horror. It was as if he was the only one who knewwhat this was.
The two men who had brought in the devices began setting them up, tying the ropesto the ceiling and to the waist harness with the pyramid seat just below it.
“This is your punishment for betraying us,” Leonardo said and signaled to the men.They fitted the waist harness around his waist and tied his arms behind. His legs were
also tied. Then they brought him up and he was made to sit on the seat, unable to move.The men still held him up away from the seat.
“I hear they still use this technique in some parts of Asia,” Leonardo said to theIranian.
The man spat on his face. Reno launched himself at the man, but Leonardo stoppedhim. Then he signaled and the men left him and the man was on the seat. Shortly after,the pointed end of the seat began to tear into the man’s anus. He was visibly in agonybut looked defiant. After a while I saw blood dripping down; that was when the manshouted the location of his hidden loot immediately. Leonardo signaled and the men tookhim down. The man was paralyzed, he couldn’t stand on his own.
Leonardo had gotten what he’d wanted, and it did not take even fifteen minutes to dothat. I ran out of the warehouse to puke. That incident had since left a scar in my mind. Ihad to admit that Leonardo had turned into a beast. I wondered if he would do the sameto me if I ever betrayed him; I wondered if he would put me on the Judas Cradle.
A sudden tap on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. I jumped when I sawLeonardo.
“What’s up, Teo? You look like you just saw a ghost or something,” he said, and gotinto the car. “Come on, let’s go.”
I was scared out of my wits when I saw him. Was this the Leonardo I once knew? WhoI had been best friends with since childhood?
“Where are we headed to now?” I asked him.“To the Empire State Building. I need to see someone there,” he replied.“You know, Leonardo, you shouldn’t just go about the city without your guards,” I
said.“That’s why we didn’t take any car from my house. I want to move around without any
guards today.” He placed his hands on my shoulder, “There are times when you need toenter the streets to do business without guards.”
He had a point. Grandpa Carmine did it on several occasions. Leonardo was really thechip off the old block of Grandpa Carmine. I focused on the road ahead, my hands holdingthe steering wheel tightly. My palms were sweating. I prayed Leonardo didn’t notice howtense I had recently become around him.
T
7
MANUEL
wo more days and I would be crowned the Don. I couldn’t wait; time seemed tomove too slow. A new family had to take over. The Carusos had ruled longenough. We would soon dispose of the the little brat.
“That’s what you get for disrespecting us, the older generation,” I muttered to myself.I still couldn’t understand why Don Carmine chose him and not his own son. I didn’t reallylike the old bastard anyway, but I’d have preferred working under Hugh. Leonardo hadtime and time again disrespected me, and this to me was against the moral code of themafia.
“We’ve arrived, papa,” Ricardo said. He was going to be my right-hand man for whatwas to come. I knew that Josef was calmer and wiser, but I couldn’t trust him. Heseemed to support the Carusos. I would just have to make do with the ruthlessness of myolder son and try to refine his impulsiveness into something more useful to me.
“Park the car over there,” I said to him, pointing at a spot up ahead. “Wait in the car.”I got down and entered the building in front of me. This was to be the meeting point
for the completion of the plan.“You’re late,” Hugh Caruso said with disgust.“Your brat of a son sent me on an errand,” I replied, trying to maintain the upper
hand. I saw the anger on his face; I had just infuriated him. I enjoyed seeing even theslightest emotion on the man’s face. He was very good at hiding most of them.
“I might be working with you to take down my son, but that doesn’t give you the rightto insult my son to my face.”
“And tell me, Hugh, how do you feel working with the man that you dislike againstyour son? I don’t even entirely trust you on this,” I countered.
“So is it the Cappodamo that you brought into this, the one you trust?” Hugh replied,referring to Matthew Cappodamo who was seated silently on one of the sofas.
“That’s alright, gentlemen,” Tony Mariani spoke. “We very well might not trust eachother in this room, but we all have a common enemy, and if we decide to fight each otherat this crucial time, he might end up crushing all of us.”
After he spoke, I remembered the time when we were younger. The three of us -Hugh, Tony and I - were very close friends. We did everything together. Tony was ourleader as Hugh had always hated leading, he was the brains of our group, and I was the
spearhead. I had always been the toughest of the trio. Together we were unstoppable,and when we clocked our twenties, we began to go on daring missions for Don Carmine.Rival families feared and respected us. It was a wonder that none of us three had beenchosen to succeed Don Carmine. I was going to correct that anyway. We were so close toeach other that we went everywhere together, but as we got older, we each began tohave our own differences until we became estranged from each other.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked Hugh.“I’ve considered everything,” Hugh started, “and this is a fool-proof plan, and that is if
your daughter…” he looked at Tony, “…carries on with what you asked her to do. Once hegets to the location, the rest should be easy.”
“How about Reno? Tony asked.“Yes, I haven’t forgotten him. He’s the major threat to our plan. Leonardo sent him to
Sicily, and he won’t be back until a day after we would have gotten rid of my Leonardo.We won’t let him live as he’s extremely loyal to him, so we will have to kill him when hereturns from Sicily.”
“Have you made preparations for that?” Tony asked.“Yes, I have. I’ve hired three skilled assassins for the job.”“And where do the Cappodamos come in?” I asked, trying not to seem left out of the
discussion.“Ah, yes, they would help us along with some of their men. Together with ours, we
will take over the Caruso mansion.”“Your mansion,” I said, and observed Hugh’s reaction – he gave none.“Yes, my mansion. I will also have some of my men work from the inside,” he replied.“You haven’t said how Leonardo will be captured.” I knew Tony had just asked this for
the sake of his daughter, who would also be with Leonardo.“We’ll wait for them to enter the building when only two guards will escort them. We’ll
then take out the guards outside, and inside take out them simultaneously.” A smirkappeared on his face as he looked at Tony, “Don’t worry, your daughter won’t be harmed.Remember my son is also there.”
We concluded the meeting and went our separate ways. I was very anxious about theD-day. I reclined in my seat and smiled. I was going to take over soon. Tony had mademe promise not to touch his son, but I couldn’t let the brat go unpunished.
I
8
HUGH CARUSO
t was six in the evening, an hour past the time when Leonardo and Alessia shouldhave been here. Something was wrong; I began to have second thoughts aboutAlessia. Could she really give Leonardo up to us? I knew the girl; she had a good
heart. Was she really going to help us bring Leonardo down because we’d told her thatwas the only way to change? I stood at the window of a building facing the BowlmoreTimes Square, thinking about all these things when my phone suddenly rang.
"Leonardo is still at the house," the voice of one of the men loyal in the mansion said."What? Why? What about his wife?" I asked."She left the house about three hours ago and she hasn’t been back yet.”“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.“Sir?”“It’s nothing. Listen to me carefully, Buck - you’ll do something for me. Find out where
she is and get back to me, quickly.”“Yes, sir.”I cut the call and turned to Tony, who stood beside me.“What the matter?” he asked.“It looks like your daughter doesn’t have the balls to do what you told her.”“That’s because she doesn’t have balls,” he snarled at me. “Tell me what happened.”“Leonardo is still at the house, and I learned that she left the house about three hours
ago.”“Maybe something held her wherever she went to,” he replied.“But the plan was for her to remain in the house till it’s time.”“She probably has her reasons.”“Let’s face it, Tony, your daughter isn’t going through with this,” I said.“Wait, let me call her,” Tony said, and brought out his phone to dial her number. He
paused and began reading something on his phone.“What is it?” I asked.“It’s a text from her,” he replied.“A text? What did she say?”“Hold on,” he replied.I held on and allowed him to finish. His face fell after a while; I knew it wasn’t good
news.“She said she can’t do it.”“Where is she now?” I asked.“She didn’t say. I’m sure she doesn’t want us to know.”I’d had a feeling something like this would happen. I was right after all; Alessia had
chosen not to betray her husband. Was it out of fear or out of love? I would never know,but I had prepared a backup plan and I needed Tony’s consent for it. Of course he had togive his consent. We couldn’t have come this far just for the whole plan to fail before itwas even put into action.
“I told you she’s not coming,” I said to him.“What do we do now?” he asked me.I observed him. “We’ll have to kidnap her,” I replied.“No way, Hugh,” he barked, “I’m not going to allow that.”“You don’t have a choice. You’re so eager to dethrone my son, yet you do not want
your daughter to be kidnapped. Moreover, we aren’t going to harm her. We’ll just use heras bait like we planned earlier.”
Tony bowed his head in thoughts. I knew he would eventually consent to it. Wecouldn’t have come this far just for the mission to fail because his child had turned herback on him.
“Okay, go ahead,” he finally said, looking defeated.On receiving his consent, I brought out my phone and called Buck. After a few short
rings, he picked up.“She’s at St. Patrick’s Cathedral,” he said after picking up the call.“Alright, thank you.”“Where’s she?” Tony asked.“St. Patrick’s Cathedral”“What happens now?”“Manuel will have to do the rest,” I said, and I saw that he’d become uneasy about
what I had just said. He didn’t trust Manuel.“Hugh, what’s wrong? I haven’t heard from you guys,” Manuel said.“Alessia won’t do our bidding anymore.”“Why?”“I’ll hear her reasons later, but for now, we’ll have to carry on with the plan.”“Carry on?” he asked “How could we possibly carry on? We need Leonardo out of the
mansion in order to divide his power.”“I know that quite well, but just listen to what I’m about to tell you. Alessia is at St.
Patrick’s Cathedral, so send some of your men to bring her to us here.”“As in forcibly?”“Of course, Manuel. She wouldn’t possibly agree to come here willingly.”“What of Tony?”“He has given his consent,” I replied.“I understand.”“Make sure you do it in the next hour.”
“Leave it to me,” he replied, and cut the phone.I knew he would bring her to us. Kidnapping was one of his few specialties. He wasn’t
good at much, yet he wanted to become Don. The fool; if only he knew what I hadplanned for him.
I
9
ALESSIA
sobbed uncontrollably as I knelt before the statue of Our Lady. I was so sure untiltoday that I would carry out my father’s plan, but I couldn’t betray Leonardo - hewas my world. I knew he had changed so much; I knew he no longer showed me the
affection I deeply craved, and I also knew he had become a mini monster, but I loved himstill.
I also loved my father; I was his favorite. He would always take me everywhere hewent, or almost everywhere. He loved me a lot. He was a nice and loving father andhusband to his family, but the life he had been brought into had soon caught up with him.
My mother had told me initially that he had gone for a business trip and that was whyhe hadn’t been back in almost three months. But three months eventually turned intothree years and more, and we hadn’t seen or heard from him. Leonardo told me he hadbetrayed the family, but he refused to tell me what exactly he did. The thought of himbeing forced to infiltrate a place similar to purgatory tore my heart into pieces. TheCappodamos were an extremely dangerous family, everyone said.
I had agreed initially to do what my father had asked me because I thought by doingthis, he would finally be free to return to his family, but that would mean causing harm toLeonardo. He had promised me no harm would come to Leonardo and that he wouldprotect my brother and I if things went wrong, but I had never known my father to keeppromises as Teo had rightly pointed out to me.
I had come to the church to pray for Leonardo and I, then I’d later decided it was bestfor me to go to confession. My heart was weighed down by guilt and I hadn’t receivedHoly Communion in almost a year. This was the perfect opportunity for me to mend myrelationship with God. I remembered Grandpa Carmine’s advice to me.
“Men and women try to reconcile and move closer to God in times of trials anduncertainty; don’t be like them, Sia.” That was his advice when I’d received my first HolyCommunion. But I had neglected Grandpa Carmine’s advice and here I was doing theopposite of what he had advised me.
After a while, it was my turn for confession, and I approached the confessional booth.“Forgive me, Padre, for I have sinned,” I said after I knelt down. “Here are my sins.”I hadn’t committed many atrocities in the past. My major sin had always been
fornicating with Leonardo, but now he was my husband. I closed my eyes and searched
for what to say to the priest. I realized that I had nothing to say.“You’re quiet my daughter, what’s the matter?” the priest asked.I began crying.“Take it easy, my child, remember God loves you,” he said, trying to console me. “You
can tell the Lord anything and he will forgive you. No sin is too great for Him.”I wiped my tears and regained my composure.“My…my husband is mafia, Lord, and I have supported him several times in what he
did. And right now, there’s a plot against him, and he might end up getting killed in theprocess, and…I…I…” I began to sob again, “I know about it, but I haven’t told him.” Icontinued sobbing, “For these sins and those I can’t remember now, I ask forforgiveness.”
It was the turn of the priest to speak now.‘Jesus Christ teaches us to follow in his path and flee from every form of sin…”My mind drifted off while the priest talked. It was getting dark already and I feared
something bad might have happened to Leonardo. But my mind returned when I heardthe priest mention my husband.
“What did you say, padre?”“I said you should try and encourage your husband to repent, else you will also be
held responsible for whatever sin he commits, and also if there’s something plannedagainst him and you are aware of it and refuse to warn him, you’re also part of theindividuals’ plotting. My advice is that you call your husband and warn him of whateverdanger is heading his way, and when everything is over, try and encourage him to repentand follow Christ.”
“Yes, father,” I replied.“For your penance,” he continued, “you’ll pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy
Rosary and attend mass daily for a week.”“Yes, Padre.”“Say the Act of Contrition,” he said.“Oh my God…”After my confession, I felt a bit relieved, and I quickly walked out of the premises. I
had made up my mind - I was going to choose the love of my life. “Wait here,” I orderedthe guards, walked a distance away and took out my phone to call Leonardo.
Just then, I heard noises in the distance, and suddenly I saw two tall rough-lookingmen approach me. I quickly searched in my bag for the gun Leonardo had given me forself-defense.
“Don’t even dare,” one of the men growled, pointing a gun at me. I promptly droppedmy bag.
“Come with us quietly and no harm will come to you,” he said, and grabbed my arm.The other man picked my bag up from the floor. We walked past my two guards, who layon the floor. They led me into a black SUV and drove me away to where I knew not like asheep to the slaughter.
Twenty minutes later, I arrived at an unknown building. I got down from the truck andthe men led me inside the building. They still treated me with a bit of respect, so I knew I
wasn’t really in serious danger. We entered a passage and came to a door. One of themen knocked on the door, and I was led into a big room.
The figure I saw standing a few meters from me shocked me to my core. It wasManuel Rivera. Was he also part of the plan? What in tarnation was he doing here?
“Sia!”“Don’t you dare call my name,” I snarled at him. “What is the meaning of this? Do you
have any idea what Leonardo will do to you when he finds out you kidnapped me?”Manuel barked out a hard laugh. “Leonardo? That little brat you call your husband?”
He came closer to me. “In a few hours, your husband will be gotten rid of, and that’snothing - you will help me do it.”
“Never!” I retorted and spat in his face.He struck me with his hands and for a few moments I couldn’t make out what was
real or not. When I regained control of myself, I began sobbing. Yes, I was sobbing likethe child I was. At that moment, I doubted if I was fit to be called the wife of the ruthlessDon Leonardo Caruso.
He signaled, and one of the men brought me a chair. I obediently sat down. He hadslapped out whatever defiance I had left in me.
Manuel came closer and handed me a phone.“You’ll either cooperate or I’ll kill you right here,” he said to me. “Here, you are going
to call Leonardo and tell him what I’m about to say.”Manuel was part of the plan after all, and my father didn’t mention anything to me
about that. This was exactly what I deserved. I could have avoided all these things had Ilet Leonardo know of their evil schemes. But I had decided to keep it a secret, and now Iwas going to pay the price.
10
I
LEONARDO
sat in my study going through several documents. I had received several reportsregarding incomplete payment of returns in our base at Ohio. I was struggling tounderstand what most of it was. This was one thing Teo was very good at - he had
an eye for figuring out inaccuracies of accounts, yet he’d never studied accounting. I hadadvised him on several occasions to take it as a major in the university, but he’d refusedeven though I offered to pay the full cost till he graduated.
He had been gone for over three days now and I was missing him. He’d said heneeded rest, and that a vacation to South Africa would do it. He really deserved it. Hehad served me well, and I’d offered to pay the full cost of the vacation. But I had noticedthere was something off about him, he seemed to be hiding something from me - it wasevident in his eyes. Maybe it was just stress.
His absence had made me feel lonely. Yes, Alessia was there, but she seemed todistance herself from me, and I couldn’t properly discuss my business dealings with her.Now I understand what my father meant when he said, ‘lonely is the man that wears thecrown.’
My phone beeped twice and started vibrating. I stared at the screen; Alessia’s nameappeared on it.
“Sia,” I said as I picked up the phone. “Sia?” I repeated when she didn’t respond.“Leonardo,” she finally said.“You just had me worried, Sia, what’s up?”“Can you come to the Bellevue Hospital Center?” she said. I observed that there was
something wrong with the way she spoke.“The hospital? What happened to you? Are you alright?”“Yes, I am. I felt a bit faint in church, and I’ve been feeling sick in school,” she
explained.“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” I asked.“You never have any time, Leonardo, you’re all about work and the people that owe
you money.”What she said touched something within me. In truth, I had not spent meaningful
time with her in a very long while.“What did the doctor say is wrong?”
“I’ll tell you when you come.”“Alright, I’ll be there soon.”I quickly stood up and put on my brown leather jacket. I reached for the drawer
beside me and took out my Glock 48. I checked to see if it was loaded and tucked itbehind me. When I left the study Piero, my guard, followed behind me.
“I’m going to Bellevue Hospital Center to see Sia,” I said to Antonio, who had come tomeet me when I got outside. He was one of my most trusted men after Reno. He too wasskilled in the art of laying men to rest.
“What happened to her?” he asked.“I have no idea, but she said she hasn’t been feeling too well recently. She called me
and asked me to come, she said I’ll understand better when I get there.”“Alright, Don,” Antonio replied.We got into a black SUV and drove off. I was anxious on my way to the hospital. What
was wrong with Sia? How could I have been so negligent not to see that something waswrong with her?
We had become gradually estranged from each other. The reality dawned on me as Isat in the SUV. I no longer showed her love and care. It wasn’t what I had promised herbefore I slid the ring on her finger. I committed to take care of her and not allow myposition affect to our relationship, but I had done exactly the opposite to her over theyear. I had not paid attention to it as Alessia wasn’t the type to complain or show herpain. It was a strength which she had.
As we approached, I realized something was wrong - my spirit was troubled. I knewsomething dangerous was coming; there was a sudden bad aura in the air, I could feel it.Blue and red flashing lights appeared behind us. It was the police. What did they wantwith us? I wasn’t scared at all, we had our hold over the police department.
We pulled up, and shortly two police officers got out of the police car and walkedtowards us. One of them came towards the driver’s side and the other the passenger’sside in front.
“License and registration?” the policeman who approached my driver, Antonio, asked.Antonio brought them out and handed them to him and he scrutinized them carefully.
The other policeman was staring into the vehicle. I had a bad premonition about this.“Where are you heading to?” the officer of the law asked.“To Bellevue Hospital Center,” Antonio answered.The man paused as if pondering what to do next.“Please get out of the vehicle,” he said.“What for?” Antonio questioned. “We haven’t done anything wrong; you don’t have the
right to ask us out of the vehicle.”“Are you trying to disobey?”“It’s alright, Antonio, let’s get out,” I urged him.“We’ll come out boss, but you stay in the vehicle, I have a bad feeling about this,”
Piero, the other man seated in front said.Antonio and Piero stepped out, while I observed what was happening from inside.“And what about you?” the officer said to me.
“He will stay inside,” Piero replied.Suddenly, I caught sight of someone in the distance holding an SMG.“Antonio!” I shouted from inside. “It’s a setup, get back inside!”My men were quick to react. They brought out their guns and shot the two cops.“Over there!” I shouted, pointing at the other man with an SMG. Before my men could
react again, the man opened fire on them. Piero dropped dead as a barrage of bulletsfound their ways into his chest. I couldn’t stay inside and watch my men get slaughtered.I got down from the vehicle and pulled my trigger. The man with the SMG fell down.
“Quickly boss, it’s a setup, let’s get out of here.”We tried to return to the SUV, but Antonio was shot from the back. I turned to return
fire.“Drop it!” was the next thing I heard.Two heavily armed men approached me, their guns held steady before them. I
couldn’t possibly shoot my way out of this. I dropped my gun. It was over; my enemieshad finally caught up with me. The men covered my head with a black bag and led me toa van and pushed me inside. As they drove off, I sat there seething in disbelief and felt asingle tear roll down my face. I was devastated that of all people, it was Alessia.
Heartless Crown: A Dark Mafia Romance (Caruso Cartel Book 4)
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