Sienna
What is a queen without her king? Well, historically speaking; a lot more powerful. From Hatshepsut and Cleopatra to Catherine the Great and Queen Victoria - all these women ruled and prospered without a king.
So why shouldn’t I?
Ten years ago, our enemies ripped apart my family, the love of my life taken from me, and our family name obliterated. We all thought this would ruin us, but they did not nickname me 'Dragonetti Queen' for nothing. I now stand as Capo Dei Capi as my husband did, only this time it is in Italy instead of New York.
Still, some people doubt me and refuse to bow just because I am a woman, just like this idiot at the end of the heel of my stiletto. “You are not my queen!” he cries out in Italian, spit flying against my heel. I shake my head and give him a sweet smile. “You will bow to me in death, buscetta,” I say, digging my heel deeper into his throat and watching him trash around, looking at me wide-eyed. “And you’ve ruined my fucking shoe.”
Dario walks over to me as I hold out my hand, and he places one of his favourite blades in it. This soldati doesn’t know just how far my reach stretches and that I knew he broke Omerta yesterday when he turned snitch.
I reach down and end his miserable existence by replacing my heel with the blade.
Dario takes the knife from my grip and grins. “Fourth one this month,” he quips, wiping the bloodied blade on his jeans. I give him a look that lets him know that he’s overstepped, but to be honest, Dario was the only male I trusted at the moment. “It hasn’t slipped my eye, Dario. There is unrest; someone is stirring them up.” I say.
He nods, then places both his hands on my shoulders. “You’re the Queen; everyone knows that. But I am the only one that will be honest with you about this; if there is unrest, it is not starting from the outside.” He says, reading my thoughts yet again. I sigh, walking over to the concrete sink and washing my hands. “I was too afraid to admit it,” I say, shaking my head and feeling dejected.
I knew Italian men would find it harder to accept a woman as their Capo, but surely everything that I have achieved over these years should count for something, right? The connections I have made, all while keeping my legs closed, have made the Dragonetti name one to be feared again. What more could they possibly want?
“Don’t let it bother you. We will find the traitor, even if we have to cut through all of them,” he assures me with a grin, then cocks a thumb towards the door. “Nico and Sylvana should have arrived by now.”
I nod at this but feel a twist to my stomach at the mention of Nico’s name. Over the last few years, he has grown to resent me because I was the one who established our underworld rule in Italy while he was confined to a wheelchair. Sylvana is still my close friend, but she would readily choose her husband over me, and I wouldn’t blame her. On the other hand, Serena is loyal to a fault - it helps that she’s my Consigliere.
We leave the basement, and I remind Dario to get a cleaner for the snitch before walking towards my bedroom. Tonight, there would be a meeting with Italy's top 3 mafia leaders and a crime boss from Greece. These meetings no longer made me nervous, knowing that these men all wanted to see me fail. I don’t know how I kept it together all this time, but as I step into my bedroom, the reason runs towards me.
“Mama,” she calls, wrapping tiny arms around me. I remember when Daniella was still a baby. Now she is almost 11 years old with a mind of her own and the attitude to match. Whenever I look at her, I am reminded of the love I lost; she is the spitting image of Dante, just with my blue eyes.
“Hey, baby,” I croon in Italian. She knows English but prefers the tongue of the natives here. “I missed you. Zia Bamba says Christian will come today. Is this true?” She asks, jumping on the balls of her feet, and I let out a sigh. Leave it to Bamba to tell Daniella about our visitor.
“Yes, he might be coming today or even later tonight. Oh, he mentioned that he might bring you some loukoumi if you’ve been a good girl.” I say, walking over to the bathroom, and she follows me. A smile spreads across her face at the mention of her favourite sweets, and she squeals. Daniella has taken quite a shine to Christian. I suppose she would; he treats her like a little princess.
She stays with me for a little while longer before leaving to shower and to get ready for bed. I let out another sigh when she left, knowing that I might soon have to break her heart. It would be for her own good, though, so I have to do this.
After I am confident that I look presentable, I head downstairs to meet my family and hopefully seal a few deals. Such is the life of a mafia leader.
SiennaI step downstairs and hear a murmur of voices, including those of children. “The Dragon Queen herself,” comes the voice of Nico, who shoots me a grin as I stride into the lounge area. I offer him a smile then walk over to Sylvana, struggling to reign in her two boys, Lukas and Marcus.Ever since I took matters into my own hands and gradually restored our name into the underworld, things have been strained between Nico and me. That fierce loyalty he had towards me when Dante was still alive has all but disappeared. I know that he thinks I stole his mantle, but he would be standing where I am right now if he had been man enough.I glance towards Sylvana, who offers me an apologetic look. “They get like this whenever I mention that we would visit Zia Enna and Daniella,” she says, tugging on their arms and passing them death glares. Well, Lukas is the out of control one; Marcus just goes along with whatever his brother
SiennaWell, that went down as smoothly as a razor on dry skin. As usual, these surly old men cannot get it through their heads that I am the leader of my family and would only speak to Nico. My brother-in-law made them listen to me and I am eternally thankful for it, but I know that he loved doing it. I trust Nico as far as I can throw him, and that is not very far.This is like a knife twisting in my side, knowing that these men would rather listen to someone like Nico instead of me. After our argument before the meeting, I didn’t expect Nico to jump to my defence, but I am sure there was a reason for his help.Damn it, can’t I just catch a break?“Honey,” I hear the familiar voice of my friend, Bamba. She’s Daniella’s minder who has come to be a close confidante of mine, it helps that she’s not a part of this life. She knows what I do, though, and will give me the honest truth when I need it an
SiennaWith bodyguards on either side of us, I watch as Christian walks ahead hand in hand with a bundled up Daniella. She’s taken such a shine to him already; I suppose that it will happen since he’s been a constant in her life over the last two years. She still asks about her real father; and I can’t do much but tell her that he’s gone forever. I contemplated telling Christian to leave my side last night and knowing it would not only break Daniella’s heart, but mine as well; I relented.Besides, who would wait around for a woman they haven’t even kissed yet?“Mama! Come!” Daniella calls as they walk through the market on the Pavillion. This was her favourite thing to do with Christian; buying sweets at the market even if the weather was chilly. He treats her to everything her heart desires, and she feels like a right princess.Breathing out a content sigh, I walk over to them and see that
SiennaAfter Serena calms herself down, I call Dario to come and collect her. I wasn’t certain whether or not she told him about her discoveries, but I resolved to keep it to myself for now. There is no way for us to know what Sylvana’s true intentions are by her encounter with someone linked to our greatest enemy. All I know is that it can’t be a good thing.I lean back in my chair and breathe out a frustrated sigh; is there anyone worth trusting nowadays?A knock on the office door snaps me out of my thoughts and a smile crosses my lips when I see who it is. “Done for the day?” I ask Christian as he strides towards my desk and he replies with a terse nod. “Finally, yes. But it resumes tomorrow,” he says, taking the seat where Serena had been in a few hours ago.I offer him a strained smile and look down. “Mine never ends,” I murmur, hating the fact that I sounded so vulnerable and in
SiennaChristian walks with me to Nico and Sylvana’s villa, which is on the same estate as this. I start telling him about Serena’s discovery, and when I conclude my story, he has an impassive look on his face.“Allessio fucking Speranzini,” he says with disgust in his voice.“I guess you know him, then?” I say sarcastically, knowing the reputation that bastard has and how they compare me to him in mafia circles.“Know him? If I knew what the fucker did to you and your family back in New York, I would not have an accord with him right now.” He says.I stop walking and look up at him. “You have an accord with my greatest enemy?”He looks at me. “As I said, Sienna, if I knew he was the reason he caused you pain, I would not have met with him a year ago. You play your cards close to your chest; how was I supposed to know what you two meant to one another? I didn&
SiennaI wake up the following morning with a body pressed up against me, and when I open my eyes, I see Daniella’s sleepy face. Smiling, I decided to savour the moment instead of sprinting out of bed like I usually do.Christian’s words about making myself happy first are still ringing in my head. I don’t know the first thing about keeping myself happy, much less keeping this family happy. But if they are continually looking to me for guidance and support, should I really continue as I have? God knows that I’ve had enough of stewing in this pit of despair, and ten years is a long time…Even though Dante’s body was not recovered in the flames, I never gave up on finding him. Everyone thought I was crazy, following up on leads when someone would spot a person bearing his resemblance, but I loved him so much that I would have moved mountains to see him again.It is only recently I am realising that he mi
Sienna“Not even a clue?” I ask, seeing nothing but darkness and hearing Christian chuckle.“Sienna, this is supposed to be a surprise. Stop asking questions, or I’ll turn this SUV around right now.”“You sound like a parent,” I say, almost rolling my eyes, but it was difficult with a blindfold on. “Ha! Does that mean I get to reprimand you with my belt?”I shake my head. “I can’t deal with you, I really can’t,” I say, tutting at the fact that he turns everything into a dirty joke.We’ve been driving for about ten minutes, Christian blindfolded me as soon as I got into the car, and I am only realising now how my guard had dropped. He can literally do whatever he pleases with me, even take me to Allessio, and it will be all my fault.With my heart in my throat, it occurs to me that I’m vulnerable right now. Fuck!“We’r
SiennaI pick up the sunflower with trembling fingers, too terrified to even open the door and see who threw this here. Only my family and Christian knew that these were my favourite, so who the hell was that and what could this mean?Hearing footfalls on the gravel again, I shove the flower into my handbag and point the Beretta towards the door when it opens.“Easy, there, it’s only me!” Christian says with wide eyes and his hands up in surrender.I lower the weapon and put it back in my bag, noting Christian’s pale face and laboured breathing. For a split second, I forgot that he took a hit before he went searching for the assailant. “We need to get you to a hospital!” I exclaim and move closer to him, ripping open his leather jacket.There’s a lot more blood than I expected.“I’m fine-”“You are obviously not fine!” I exclaim, gesturing for a b