RICARDO
Ariana Viktor Advik was dead.I was to be happy. I was supposed to be extremely happy, ecstatic, elated, grateful—but I wasn’t. Why? Her death was too easy.She wasn’t supposed to die such a peaceful death after wrecking havoc in my own life.She didn’t deserve a simple death.For me, there was always a fine line between hating a person and just not liking them. But when it came to that conniving bitch, Ariana, I hated her with all that I was.I loathed her existence to a point where I began fantasizing her death.She had taken something from me, something of great value, and I couldn’t ever forgive it.God, I desired to be her punisher. I desired to be the one who watched her breathe her last, but I had to be careful.She was the daughter of a man whom I’d never make a mistake of crossing. The Godfather of Russia—Viktor Nikolai Advik.They were only a few people whom I feared, and that dreadful man was on the top of that list. I had to be careful with him no matter what I did.So when I met Ginevra Rodriguez, I saw an opportunity to carry out my plan discreetly without having to bear any of the consequences.Ginevra was desperate for power, and I used her desperation against her. Played with her head so much that she so easily fell for the trap I had set.She took out Ariana and I watched her execute my own plan without even knowing it. My heart was a burst of excitement, because now, if the true identity of the culprits behind Ariana Advik’s murder was ever discovered, all fingers would point to none other than Ginevra Rodriguez.Even if the fingers weren’t pointing directly at her, there would be pointed at Gustavo Rodriguez—the rightful heir of Rodriguez famiglia.This would stir up great trouble and Ginevra would be left to bear the burden all own her own.She was after all the head of her famiglia.Ginevra Rodriguez.There was something about the lady that had me craving her presence. There was something so intimidating about her, something so challenging, perhaps her ability to hold my stare.It was almost a miracle how I could breathe the first time my eyes met hers. Irises as dark as the midnight, powerful, monstrous, enchanting. . .she was out of this world. Her mere presence felt out of this world.But as much as I enjoyed having her eyes glaring into mine in challenge, it aggravated me to think that a girl like her—a girl who had not what it took to breathe the same air as I, could look me in the eyes without faltering.She had no fear, and I desperately needed to know why.Why wasn’t she afraid of me?Of course, I knew I was whining like a little bitch, but I wasn’t the type not to be feared by men and women. The mere presence of me in a room was enough to have people trembling and pissing their pants.At the age of seven, I had already done a number of despicable things. I was born a monster—I operated dangerously to a point where my father feared I was becoming a serial killer.And in order to tame me, my identity was stripped from me, hence, the name, Ghost. I was locked away and trained to suppress my anger—not to act out of anger. Not to be carelessly stupid.And by the time I turned fifteen, I was the perfect soldier. I became even deadlier than I was and the people who knew of me made no mistake of crossing my path. No one dared to look in my direction longer than a second, no one spoke in my presence, no one rebelled openly against me. I was the bane of their existence.But Ginevra Rodriguez, she was not afraid. She dared me, challenged me to battle, refused me, all whilst having a smile on her face.I loathed that smile, wanted to wipe it off her face. Wiping that smile off her face was all I could think about until an idea popped in—make her powerful.With great power, came great pain.But people who were powerless craved power, unknowing to them that the people who held that power, loathed it.Power equaled more enemies, more tears, more pain, and a quick death it you were stupid enough not to properly guard yourself.Power was destruction, and I was going to give Ginevra Rodriguez what she desperately sought. Power. Her destruction. And I was going to stand by, and watch her diligently whilst she suffered the consequences of her own choices.I snapped out of the daze when I heard sound of approaching footsteps—a woman’s heels clicking against the floor.Here goes nothing.“Mi amore?” I heard my mother’s voice—a voice that had me gagging. I loathed that voice, I loathed that fragrance, and I loathed the mere presence of that vile woman.Why was she standing in front of me? Why was she here in my office? Why, why, why?“Hm.” I hummed, not wanting to seem rude.She stepped forward and laid her palms flat on my table, red, almond shaped acrylic nails almost digging into the surface of my smooth table.The fuck!“You have been away from me for too long, amore, why’s that?” She breathed.I grunted under my breath. “Incase you haven’t heard, we have been at war with the Rodriguez’s.”“A war that has long ended.”“It has just been a week and a lot of damages has to be covered. A lot of families has to be compensated. I am busy.” I retorted, anger seeping from my voice.“You have your underboss for this, dannazione! And there’s your consigliere and the middle man, I need you. I have missed you.” My supposed mother whined.She missed me?She missed me?!Wasn’t it sick that my own mother would miss me?She was a sick woman who didn’t care about any other person except herself. She didn’t even care for her own son except when she wanted. . .I snapped. “Don’t fucking say that fucked up shit to me ever again! You’re sick! You need fucking help! And I’ve said this a million times, but I’ll do you a favor and say it again. This shit is over!”“Ricardo Sanchez!” She raged, slamming her fist into the table.“What?! What the fucking fuck do you want from me? What more would you threaten me with? She’s dead, okay? She has been dead for a very long time,” my breathing had betrayed me, coming out shaky and unstable, tears slipping down my cheeks. “Your daughter, whose existence you have used to blackmail me for years is gone, and I’ll no longer play by this sick game of yours. You have a husband, if you need to be fucked, go get fucked by your husband or perhaps pick a bodyguard and leave your fucking son alone!”I was raging, I was sorrowful, I was in tears, I was in pain—I was dying slowly because of the sacrifices I had to make for this fucked up family of mine.People on the outside had little understanding of the despicable things that took place under my roof.They all judged me without understanding my plight, without understanding the things I had gone through in life—how I struggled to keep my head above waters.No one understood.And I was painted the villain in everyone’s mind, because I was destroyed. I had died before I had the chance to actually live.“If you walk out on me, Ricardo Junior, I’ll cut you off this family’s name and legacy.” Mamà spoke and for the first time in forever, I laughed. I laughed so loud, amused.I truly was amused.I wanted out and having her cut me off would be the best thing that had ever happened to me.“You should know by now, mamà, I always have been sick of this family’s name and its legacy. I never wanted a part in it. I stayed back because I had something to protect, but I failed, and I’d really appreciate it if y’all could leave me the fuck alone!”I stormed out.I stormed out in search of something that could take my mind off my shitty mother.Ginevra Rodriguez was not available at the moment, seeing how she hadn’t returned from Russia after getting an invitation from The Godfather.No surprise at all—I knew striking a deal with the man wasn’t going to be an easy one.Ginevra was either going to return in a body bag or return broken beyond measure.My phone vibrated in my pocket and I wasted no time in retrieving the device.“Hm.” I hummed.“Your girl has been dropped off at a clinic far out in the outskirts of the city. I’m sharing you the location as we speak.” The man on Ginevra’s tail informed.“How long?” I asked.“Three days now, boss.” He answered.I scoffed breathily. “And you didn’t think to inform me sooner?”The man went silent for a few minutes—silence that was induced by fear. “I’m sorry, boss, but she has been unconscious and I didn’t think it was necessary for you to be here.”“Armani?” I hummed and the man answered with a whispered, “boss.” I continued, “next time, let me decide what is necessary.”“Mi dispiace, Don.” I hummed in response and hung up.Breathing out in relief, I rushed into my car and zoomed off.Time to cloud my mind with something that had nothing to do with my sick excuse of a mother.GINEVRA Sometimes, I wondered how many raptures I had missed. I’d sit in my room and hear about all the massacres, the genocides, volcanic eruptions, suicides, homosides, and every natural and unatural causes of death—and I’d ask myself, was it rapture for the victims?Rapture had after all been painted that way in my head—a few would be taken, and those undeserving would be left behind.Why was I always left behind?365 days in a year, millions out of billions of people would cross over to the other side, they’d get their rapture—but me, was I unrapturable? Had I done something wrong? What was it about me that had death spitting me out? I asked these questions because at the end of the day, I desired to be raptured.I wanted to be raptured.Why was I still breathing? The thought had popped into my head as my eyes shot open. The thought popped into my head in between the pain and muscle spasms I felt.Through the strong odor of alcohol swabs. Everything was a little blurry, but I c
GINEVRA My hair in a messy bun, an all black two piece sweat pant and shirt was all I adorned myself by. Today was not an official day, today was the day I would feast on blood, today was the day I was going to let the monster that had relentlessly clawed at my soul have a taste of what it had been yearning for.Today was the day I was going to leave my mark, and gain myself a lasting reputation and respect in both my clan and all of the crime families in Cosa Nostra.In the world of crime, women were almost never taken seriously—young, vibrant women like myself especially. We were bred to become wives and mothers, we were used as tools to initiate peace treaties between rival families.We were regarded as nothing but princesses with pretty faces, nice bodies, and a good pussy.But I wanted nothing to do with that absurd arrangement. I wanted more. I had always desired to be more than a princess.And when I was declared and sworn in as the head of my clan, a lot of Capo’s expressed
GINEVRAFear had erupted deep in my soul.With every click of my heels against the floor, came fear.With every rattle of chains, came fear.With every strained whimper, came fear.I trembled tremendously as I walked through the tunnel-like structure leading into the holding cell where Maxwell was held captive.Cold shivers coursed through my bloodstreams as I had a recollection of about a week ago, when I was in the same situation as Maxwell. I was held hostage by the same man, I was familiar with that evil smirk plastered across his lips, I was familiar with the stench of blood and human feces, I was familiar with the smoke from his burning cigar, I was familiar with those chains, and I was familiar with the fear in Maxwell’s eyes.But I wasn’t familiar with the way my heart almost leaped with joy at the suffering of another.I was unfamiliar with the way my adrenaline pumped.A few hours ago when Maxwell was delivered to the Pakhan during the procession of his daughter’s funeral, t
GINEVRA When I told my father that helping his son escape Don Viktor’s wrath came with a price, he had imagined that price to be money.It was after all what the average human pined after—money.But for me, money was not an issue. Julia left me a shit ton.So, when I had demanded that ownership of the Rodriguez group of companies be passed down to me, it caused a stir of trouble in the Rodriguez home.Gustavo came at me, Sophia Rodriguez—my mamá—came at me, and my eldest sister came at me.Selfish.Insensitive.Greedy.Fool.Wicked.They had all called me names, slapped me across the face even. And all I did was wear a smile. I wore a smile with pride and sat there until their ranting died down.Mio padre knew, he knew there was no way out of the mess his son had caused him. So, when his extremely loud family had the decency to keep their tongue at bay, he simply got the documents ready and his companies were transferred under my name.It took hours, but I waited. I had no issue wait
GINEVRA The day of the hijack.“Padre Nostro, che sei nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome.”My shoulders slumped. “Venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volontá.”My knees burnt against the ground as I had been kneeling for too long. “Come in cielo, così in terra.”The metal rosary dug into my palm, drawing blood. “Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano.”I shook. “E rimetti a noi i nostri debiti.”I quaked. “Come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori.”I feared the unforeseen. “E non ci indurre in tentazione.”I murmured to myself. “Ma liberaci dal male.”I begged for redemption—a chance to be saved. A chance to walk away from this unscathed. “Amen.”I rose to my full height, swallowing the lump in my throat, firmly holding on to my last string of courage.Walking out of my room, energy surged through me, adrenaline pumped, I became more resolved—more determined to emerge a winner in my conquest.Seven days had rolled by quicker than I had anticipated, and today, after so many
RICARDO Twelve days before the hijack.I was born with a purpose.During the days of my mother, as related to how the story was told, women were looked down upon.There weren’t allowed to be involved in the business that concerned the men—those businesses included running the family, and bringing honor to their name. Sometimes, because of the strong affiliation to crime, drug trafficking and every other thing that had a connection to criminal activities were also handled by the men. Murder included.But my mother was a woman who was born different. She wanted different. She craved different. She was rebellious, too rebellious to be regarded a woman.Unfortunately for her, her father wasn’t a very flexible man. He needed her disciplined, he needed to tame her. And his idea of taming his daughter was marrying her off to a man she barely knew. My father.Their marriage wasn’t born out of love, but out of a business alliance.My mama’s world had shattered, and she began to desperately se
GINEVRA By my dressing table was a huge mirror, and by that mirror, I stood. Confused out of my mind, tears brimming my eyes, my body trembling, and an emotion that had no explanation surging through my veins. For hours, I had been standing in front of that mirror. Unable to move, unable to blink, and unable to properly function. Tears brimmed my eyes some more, stinging at the corners, wanting to slip out. I blinked rapidly, holding the tears in.What had I gotten myself into?What was I doing wrong?I had desperately sought after power all my life, and now, I had that power, I had gained myself quite the reputation—I was something. And yet, I was miserable.With great power, came great pain. The power I had achieved was my undoing.I blinked again, taking in the reflection of me as repeated flashbacks of when I pulled open the back doors of the truck came afresh in my memory, disorienting my conscious state.The many pairs of eyes belonging to women and children that had fearfull
RICARDO Pacing back and forth in my office, rage enveloped me, my blood rose in anger, and my chest constricted with rage.How was I so oblivious to the disgusting activities that was happening right under my nose?How had I been completely blind to my mother’s wickedness?How did my father get away with constantly playing the victim?Questions after questions plagued my mind. I was losing my grip on the last string of sanity I had left. My life was a mess. My life was a complete mess.Desperately needing to calm my present disorderliness, I continuously poured myself one glass after another of scotch. The burning liquid hadn’t helped me at all.Nothing seemed to be working in my favor.I was doomed. My life was doomed.Human trafficking?Human fucking trafficking?!How could they do this? How could those monsters that birthed me do a thing like this?And I had been a fool. My papá must’ve been having a good laugh all those years when he had successfully played the victim, when in tr